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http://www.archive.org/details/lettersfromeuropOOweed 



LETTERS 



FE01I 



EUROPE AND THE WEST INDIES. 



1843-1852. 

• 

BY THURLOW WEED. 



ALBANY : 

WEED, PARSONS AND COMPANY, 

PRINTERS AND PUBLISHERS. 

1866. 



GcVlo 



,NN 



'_ 



I 



Entered according to act of Congress, In the year eighteen hundred and 

sixty-five, 

BY WEED, PARSONS & COMPANY, 

in the Clerk's office of the District Court of the United States for the Northern 
District of New York. 



*n 



i. 





PREFACE 



The family and more intimate friends of Mr. Weed 
have been frequently applied to for his Letters from 
Europe and the West Indies. But no extra copies of 
them were ever printed, and it has, therefore, been im- 
possible to comply with these requests. To meet this 
difficulty, and to gratify those whose long intimacy 
with Mr. Weed gives weight to their wishes, these 
Letters have been collected and are embodied in this 
volume. 

This is done without Mr. Weed's knowledge, who 
modestly shrinks from the dignity of a bookmaker, and 
who has never believed that these Letters deserved any 
more prominent or permanent position than was origin- 
ally given them in the columns of the Evening Journal. 
No one will be more surprised than himself to see them 
in their present form; but those who can place a more 
correct estimate upon their interest and value than their 
author, have taken the responsibility, and thousands 
who have long desired to have this disposition made 
of them will be pleased. 

The Letters were written during Mr. Weed's visit to 
Europe in 1843 and in 1852, and to the West Indies in 



iv Preface. 

1845. They are given just as they were hastily writ- 
ten and originally published. To have altered them in 
the least would have robbed them of their inimitable 
sprightliness, freshness and geniality. Those who read 
them when first written will enjoy their reading again ; 
and those who will now read them for the first time will 
concur in the universal verdict, that no man writes bet- 
ter letters than Mr. Weed. 



INDEX 



FROM EUROPE, 1843. 

PAGE. 

Letter I. Packet ship George Washington, at sea, June 21, 1843 1 

II. Packet ship George Washington, at se£, June 23, 1843 9 

III. Courtmaesherry, Ireland, June 28, 1843, ■ 19 

IT. Dublin, July 1, 1843, 27 

V. Dublin, July 3, 1843, 39 

TI. Liverpool, July 5, 1843, 46 

Til. Liverpool, July 7, 1843 57 

Till. London, July 8, 1843, 66 

IX. London, July 12, 1843 76 

X London, July 14, 1843, 86 

51. London, July 17, 1843, 95 

XII. London, July 19, 1843, 105 

XIII. London, July 21, 1843, 117 

XIT. London, July 22, 1843, 126 

XT. London, July 25, 1843, 135 

XTI. Bristol, July 27, 1 843 1 43 

XVII. Belfast, August 3, 1843, 152 

XVIII. Greenock, August 5, 1843, 161 

XIX. Glasgow, August 7, 1843, 170 

XX. Glasgow, August 9, 1843 178 

XXI. Edinburgh, August 9, 1843 185 

XXII. Melrose (Scotland), August 13, 1843, 196 

XXIII. London, August 24, 1843 207 

XXIT. Dublin, August 2, 1843 214 

XXT Melrose, August 13, 1843 221 

XXVI. London, August 24, 1843, 233 

XXVII. Paris, September 16, 1843, 244 

XXVIII. On board steamer London Merchant, August 27, 1843 247 

XXIX. London, August 25, 1843, 251 

XXX. Havre, August 29, 1843, 259 

XXXI. Paris, September 1 6, 1843 269 

XXXII. Paris, September 20, 1843, 279 

XXXIII. Paris, September 23, 1843, 288 

XXXIV. Paris, September 25, 1843, 295 

XXXV. Antwerp, October 14, 1843 304 

XXXVI. Paris, September 27, 1843 307 

FROM THE WEST INDIES, 1844-45. 

Letter I. At sea, November 27, 1844, 315 

II. St. Croix, W. L, December 24, 1844, 325 

III. St. CroLx, W. I., December 30, 1844 329 



VI INDEX. 

PAGE. 

Latter IV. St. Croix, "W. I., January 6, 1845, 335 

V. St. Croix, "W. I., January 1, 1845, . .^. 344 

VI. Santa Cruz, W. I., January 10, 1 845, 351 

VII. St. Thomas, W. I., January 15, 1845, 360 

. VIII. Santa Cruz, W. I., January 31, 1845, 366 

IX. Santa Cruz, W. I, February 24, 1845 374 

X. Santa Cruz, W. I, February 27, 1845, 383 

XI. Santa Cruz, W. L, March 20, 1845 391 

XII. Santa Cruz, "W. I, April 3, 1845, 399 

FROM EUROPE, 1851-52. 

Letter I. Steamer Baltic, Dec. 6, 1851, 407 

II. London, December 9, 1851 414 

III. Folkstone, December 13, 1851, 422 

IV. Boulogne, December 14, 1851, 426 

V. Paris, December 21, 1851, 431 

VI. Paris, December 29, 1851, 436 

VII. Paris, January 2, 1852, 442 

VIII. Paris, January 5, 1 852, 446 

IX. Paris, January 8, 1852, 450 

X. Avignon, January 14, 1852, 457 

XL Marseilles, January 15, 1S52, 463 

XII. Nice, January 19, 1852, 469 

XIII. San Remo, January 21, 1852, 476 

XIV. Genoa, January 27, 1852, 482 

XV. Genoa, January 24, 1852, 496 

XVI. Genoa, January 27, 1852, 500 

XVII. Florence, February 4, 1852, 506 

XVIII. Florence, February 5, 1852, 513 

XIX. Naples, February 16, 1852 521 

XX. Naples, February 20, 1852, 528 

XXI. Naples, February 21, 1852, 535 

XXII. Baije, March 5, 1852, 543 

XXIIL Naples, March 12, 1852 549 

XXIV. Rome, March 23, 1852, 554 

XXV. Rome, April 27, 1852, 560 

XXVI. In the Appenine Mountains, April 20, 1852, 568 

XXVII. Ferrara, April 23, 1852, 573 

XXVIII. Venice, April 26, 1852, 577 

XXIX. Trieste, April 28, 1852, 582 

XXX. Vienna, May 1, 1852, 588 

XXXI. Vienna, May 8, 1852 595 

XXXII. Vienna, May 9, 1852 599 

XXXIII. Prague, May 11, 1852, 603 

XXXIV. Dresden, May 12, 1S52 608 

XXXV. Leipsic, May 15, 1852 616 

XXXVI. Brussels, May 20, 1852 624 

XXXVII. London, June 15, 1S52 629 

XXXVIII. London, June 18, 1852, 637 

XXX TX . London, June 18, 1852, 642 



LETTERS. 



i. 

PACKET SHIP GEORGE WASHINGTON, & 

At Sea, June 21st, 1843. 

Having paid the Landsman's tribute (sea sickness) to 
Neptune, I am now sufficiently recovered to get on Deck 
in pleasant weather and enjoy fresh air and sea views. 

We have been " afloat " fourteen days, with light 
but favorable winds. We are about 2,400 miles from 
New York and only some 800 miles from Liverpool ! 
This enumeration of miles seems formidable to one who 
has been accustomed to run either to New York with 
Captains McLean or Beainaed, or to Utica, Auburn or 
Rochester upon the Railroad. 

The Passage so far has been auspicious. The ship 
has been headed directly to Liverpool from the moment 
she was put upon her course, and except for two or three 
hours, in what threatened to be a Gale, the large sails 
have not been taken in. 

When the kind and beloved friends who accompanied 
us down the Bay had, on their return to the city, passed 
out of the reach of my strained vision, we fixed our 
eyes upon the receding shores, until object after object 
grew first indistinct and then disappeared. Long before 



© 



2 Thurlow Weed's 

twilight all the traces of Land had faded away. We 
continued to cast long, lingering, last looks homeward 
until night let down her curtain. And then, separated 
for the first time, by a liquid element, from Family, 
Friends, Home and Country, came a sense of loneliness 
to which my soul had been a stranger. Anxious to be 
alone to indulge " thick corning fancies," I lighted my 
segar, went forward and seated myself upon the wind- 
lass, for a long, quiet self communion, which, however, 
was almost abruptly terminated by a wave that, dashing 
over the bows, gave me the ill-timed luxury of a shower 
bath, and drove me, dripping wet, back to the quarter 
deck. 

During the night the wind lulled, and soon after sun- 
rise when I came on Deck, the Captain pointed me to 
the land-shade of Montauk Point, within about twelve 
miles of which we could see. Our course had been 
parallel with Long Island, keeping about twenty-five 
miles from shore. We were forty-five miles from Sandy 
Hook at sun-set of the first day. 

I happened to be forward when the mates were 
dividing the Crew into " watches," the first and second 
mates choosing (as we choose sides at ball play) the 
best sailors for their respective watches. It was a novel 
and amusing scene. The sailors gave their names 
"Dick," "Bob," "Bill," " Charlie," " Tom," "Jack," as 
they were asked. One gave the name of " Howard." 
The mate replied " your other name." " Zeb, sir," was 
the response. The mate, shaking his head, said " Zeb 
is not a ship-shape name, let it be Howard." ' Another 
gave the name of Van Schoonhoven. " Oh," says the 
mate, " belay that long name and unship your short 



Letters from Europe. 3 

one." The boy then gave " George," winch proved 
more satisfactory. 

After a brief outline of duty, announced in a sea- 
man's manner and language, from the chief mate (Mr. 
Gibbs), the second ma.te's Watch was sent below. 
Among the duties enjoined upon the crew were " strict 
obedience to orders, a bright look-out, no swearing in 
the tops, and no bawdy songs when Ladies or Gentle- 
men are on deck." 

The ship's crew consists of the Captain, three Mates, 
seventeen able Seamen, a Carpenter, three boys, a Stew- 
ard, Cook and three Waiters and a Stewardess. Our 
crew seems an excellent one. Two of the sailors have 
been former mates of vessels, but for want of such situ- 
ations, and rather than be idle, ship on board the Liver- 
pool Packets. These Lines of Packets, by the way, 
are nurseries for American Ship Masters. The Captains 
of all these noble Vessels, like Bonaparte's best Gen- 
erals, have risen by merit from before the mast to the 
quarter-deck. Captain Burrows, who commands our 
ship, first came on board the Silas Richards, Captain 
Holdridge, as a " Boy," and passed from step to step 
through the grades of ordinary seaman, able seaman, 
third, second and first mate, to the high and responsible 
station he now occupies, so honorably to himself and 
useful to the owners of his ship. His predecessor, Capt. 
Holdridge, who came from the same town (Groton) in 
Connecticut, rose in the same way, and is now fitting 
out the " Victoria," a magnificent new Ship, to be placed 
in the same Line. Captain Burrows succeeds, in turn, 
to the next new Ship, though he will leave with regret, 
as did Captain H., his favorite " George Washington," 



4 Thuelow Weed's 

a ship that has done her work so far, faithfully and gal- 
lantly, and that has been the scene of so many of their 
trials and achievements. It is a very remarkable fact, 
and one of •which Connecticut and Massachusetts may 
be justly proud, that almost all of the Packet Ships 
belonging to the several Lines running between New 
York and Liverpool and New York and London, are 
commanded by natives of those States. Indeed, most 
of the Captains of the London " Liners " are natives of 
the same town (Lyme) in Connecticut ! This fact 
shows that with the advantages of a Common School 
Education, fortified by " steady habits," a New Eng- 
land boy will carve out his fortune even in a profession 
where humble merit encounters the most formidable 
obstacles to advancement. 

For the first ten days our ship bounded gaily over 
the billows with fair and fresh winds. But we have 
been becalmed for two days, and at this moment the 
mighty elements, that may be so soon lashed into terrific 
rage, sleep as sweetly and breathe as gently as an infant 
or a zephyr. 

Yesterday large schools of Porpoises disported them- 
selves around us for hours. To-day the marine visitors 
of yesterday are succeeded by Whales, real Whales, 
though I cannot vouch for their being " right sperm." 
The first one " spouted " within a hundred yards of 
the ship, passing along lazily astern. Another soon 
appeared on the starboard side of the ship and still 
nearer, which was followed by two others, all continu- 
ing spouting and sporting for two hours. This display 
of Neptune's curiosities was crowned, after Tea, by the 



Letters from Europe. 5 

appearance of a huge Shark in the ship's wake and but 
a few feet astern. 

We are a large, but exceedingly harmonious com- 
munity. The Steerage Passengers number over 150, 
most of whom are disappointed Emigrants returning to 
the Old World, without having found in the New the 
" ready dug " gold that seduced them across the Atlan- 
tic. In talking with some of these People, I find that 
they return more because they cannot reconcile them- 
selves to our " social reforms," than for the want of 
employment. Some, it is true, are unfortunate, as some 
always must be in a world of vicissitudes. The return- 
ing English emigrants go home in great disgust with 
Brother Jonathan. They concentrated all their hatred 
of our country by saying that " everything in America 
stinks, but the Vinegar, and that is sweet." But even this 
picture has its bright hues as well as its dark shades. 
There are, among the Steerage Passengers, an old Irish 
Lady and Gentleman of the name of Tobijst, from Cin- 
cinnati, who go back to the Green Isle to die where 
they were born, that their dust may rest where rests 
the dust of their Fathers. They have lived prosper- 
ously in America, but they could die happy only in 
Ireland. Six children are left in America, and one 
Daughter, with that filial devotion which hallows 
a Daughter's affection, accompanies her Parents on this 
sepulchral pilgrimage. 

Noticing an intelligent looking Scotchman forward, I 
inquired if he too was tired of America 1 " Na, na, 
friend. Its no that way wi' me. I'm but running o'er 
on a matter o' bisness, and to make a short vesit. From 
the first day I set foot in Oneida county, Mr. Wolcott — 



6 Thurlow Weed's 

a vara nice man lie is — (perhaps you ken something of 
the Wolcotts's — they are Manufacturers at York Mills), 
gave me employment, and I have not seen an idle hour, 
or lacked any of the enjoyments of life since. The last 
winter I purchased a Farm in Clinton. The crops are 
a' in and growing, and wi' God's blessin' I will be back 
to the harvesting o' them. I have help enough in my 
own Family to work my Farm. Three Sons are well 
grown lads, and others are coming up after them. The 
gude wife has fourteen bairns." Much agreeable con- 
versation passed with this industrious, thriving, cheerful 
Scotchman (Mr. Bryden), who represents a numerous 
and valuable class of our Emigrant citizens. With the 
habits, principles and temperament of the Bailie Nicol 
Jarvies who are to be met in our " Saut Markets," and 
the " Dandie Dinmots " who fertilize our soil, no stranger 
need turn hungry or naked from our shores. 

There are, by the way, two classes of Steerage pas- 
sengers. My Scotch friend and several others have 
large rooms partitioned off from the Steerage proper, 
with the benefit of good air and light. They however 
"eat themselves," as Pat says, and pay $50 for their 
passage. A second class steerage passage is but $10. 

Among the first class Steerage passengers I was not 
a little surprised to find the " Columbian Minstrels" for 
whose high vocal powers our friend Meech of the 
Museum, has so often made the Evening Journal 
voucher. They are on a professional visit to England, 
where Mr. Rice, the original " Wirginny Nigger " was 
eminently successful. As these Vocalists can out-"jump 
Jim Crow," and give ten Songs to his one, I hope then- 
success may be in proportion. We are indebted largely 



Letters from Europe. 7 

to Europe for her Fanny Ellslers, Mad. Celestes, Mons. 
Adrents, &c, &c. It is a pleasure, therefore, to send 
abroad, in return, these " Columbian Minstrels" whose 
success, if there is taste and sentiment in England to 
enjoy the music of nature, will be more than triumphant. 
Nor are these Yankee Minstrels the only national 
novelty the Ship George Washington is wafting to 
England. We have two thousand Wooden Clocks on 
board ! These " notions " are of Massachusetts fabrica- 
tion, and find, I am informed, a ready market with John 
Bull. The purchasers are among the humblest of the 
middling classes, who form clubs of 12, 15 or 20, pay- 
ing six pence a week into a purse for the purchase of 
Clocks, which are drawn for by Lottery, the contribu- 
tion and the drawings continuing until each member of 
the Club rejoices in a Wooden Clock. This is one 
of the triumphs of American Manufactures. 

Wednesday, June 28. 

Our good ship George Washington has always been 
a favorite Packet. On her June passage of last year, 
Charles Dickens returned in her to England. Captain 
Burrows informs me that he made himself extremely 
popular with all on board. In his " Notes " he speaks 
in highly complimentary terms of the ship and her 
commander. 

Grant Thorburn, the well known Seedsman and 
Florist, returned to America in this ship, and I make 
the following extract from his Book, for the purpose of 
saying that every word of it is as applicable to her pres- 
ent captain and crew as to her former excellent com- 
mander : 



8 Thurlow Weed's 

"If you have a friend in the world to whom you wish well, and that friend 
wants to cross the Atlantic, tell him to waft for the George Washington, 
Captain Holdridge and crew. We have been nine days out, and have not 
heard an oath from an officer or a sailor ; sometimes making twelve knots an 
hour, with the waves as high as Snake-Hill in Jersey, and neither a sigh nor 
a groan has escaped the ship's timbers. • Her sheets of canvas swelling in 
the breeze, are moved by her steady and willing crew, without noise or con- 
fusion — all as if impelled by the god of order." 

The same spirit of order and the same proprieties of 
language and temper, reigned throughout the vessel 
during the twenty- one days we were on board of her. 
But enough for this writing. So adieu for the present. 



Letters from Europe. 



II. 

PACKET SHIP GEORGE WASHINGTON, 

At Sea, June 23, 1843. 

Our noble ship has been reposing, for three days, 
upon the unruffled bosom of a slumbering Ocean ; and 
although we number more than 200 souls, all is quiet- 
ness and tranquillity on board. The Captain and Mates 
pace the quarter-deck, looking and whistling, rather 
impatiently, for wind. The passengers at their books, 
shuffle-board, backgammon, chess or checkers, seem 
alike content with wind or calm. Much of our conver- 
sation, however, consists in discussing the probabilities 
of our arrival at Liverpool before the steamer that left 
Boston nine days after us, and the "Akhbar," a fast sail- 
ing ship that left New York thirty hours before us. 
The first predictions of those who bave "crossed before" 
were for a passage of nineteen days, but since the calm 
they are willing to compound for a twenty-one, twenty- 
two, or twenty-three clays' run. Our Ship has passed 
everything she has encountered so far, but without 
wind, the Steamer will pass us the day after to-morrow. 
The Sea, like politics, makes "strange bed-fellows." 
Our cabin passengers have been drawn from nearly all 
the different points of compass on the globe, and are as 
diverse in characters and pursuit, as in birth and lan- 
guage. But we all affiliate and harmonize wonderfully. 
There is not an ill-natured or querulous spirit among us. 

This, I am told, is unusual, and my own slight expe- 
2 



10 Thurlow Weed's 

rience in traveling has shown " a black sheep " in almost 
every flock. In addition to our own party of four, we 
have a quiet Englishman who is returning from a visit to a 
sister residing in Canada, surprised and gratified to have 
found a large and flourishing town (New York) between 
London and Montreal ! There is an affable, talkative 
old gentleman from Sheffield (a Razor manufacturer, I 
believe), returning from a visit to New York. He went 
out in the Packet Ship North America, last spring, and 
was beached near Sandy Hook. There are two young- 
officers of the British Army returning home with chill- 
ing recollections of a Canadian winter; a Scotchman 
and his niece, from Terre Haute, Indiana ; a Pennsylva- 
nian and his sister, from the good Whig county of Som- 
erset, going to Ireland after a legacy, I infer, their 
Father having been an Irishman and their Mother 
Scotch; an Englishman from Boston; a partner in an 
extensive Merchant Tailor's establishment in Park Place, 
who goes to London and Paris to purchase clothes and 
"catch the fashions as they change;" a Dry Goods 
dealer in Broadway, who, though born in Holland, per- 
sists in claiming America as his native country ; a young 
Gentleman, who, thoiigh born in Baltimore, gives him- 
self out as an Englishman. He was left with a fortune, 
partly on this and partly on the other side of the Atlan- 
tic. His habits, in some respects, are most thoroughly 
English, for he sits up until four o'clock in the morning, 
rises at one p. m., breakfasts, and drinks porter inordi- 
nately. But he is intelligent and agreeable. We have 
a gentlemanly English merchant and his accomplished 
Lady, changing their residence from New York to Liv- 
erpool, the Tariff having destroyed his business in 



Letters from Europe. 11 

America; a companionable, frank, honest Yorkshire- 
man, connected with a Cloth house in New York, and 
residing in Brooklyn, who is going to Leeds for his 
Wife and Child; a retiring Partner in the great Iron 
house of Sanderson & Brothers, Sheffield, who, after a 
residence of fourteen years in New York, goes to the 
Island of Jersey to enjoy the fruits of his enterprise 
and industry. This gentleman is one of John Bull's 
legitimate sons. His aversion for Brother Jonathan is 
purely national. His most formidable charge against 
Republican Institutions, is their relaxing influence upon 
Domestic discipline. He attributed the recusancy of a 
Son and the elopement of a Daughter wholly to these 
causes, and will never learn that the " iron rule," in the 
government of children, is quite as likely to have occa- 
sioned the disappointment of his parental hopes. This 
gentleman is, however, an agreeable companion, with 
kindly feelings, and, I doubt not, a worthy man. He 
has an inexhaustible fund of cheerful conversation. 
We have a young German gentleman, who has passed 
four years in the commercial cities of England, France 
and America, and is now returning to Hamburgh, to 
commence his own commercial career. He is very 
generally informed, and has, in the broadest sense of the 
term, completed his Education. We have also a Catho- 
lic Priest (a native of Bavaria), who was some time at 
Detroit, but now from Cincinnati, returning home out 
of health. 

Father De Smet, a native of Belgium, and a Mission- 
ary of the Jesuits, is returning from a four years' resi- 
dence among the Indians beyond the Rocky Mountains. 
His errand was one of true Christian benevolence, and 



12 Thurlow "Weed's 

in searching the wide world, few men conld be found so 
richly endowed with the qualities and so deeply imbued 
with the principles of that Divine Missionary who was 
sent to proclaim peace and good will to man. Father 
De Smet belongs to a Family possessing rank and 
wealth He gave his fortune to his Brothers (reserving 
only what was necessary to defray his expenses), and 
departed for the New World and its wilderness, giving 
up the remainder of his life to the improvement and 
the amelioration of the condition of the poor Indian. 
He went among the most savage of the Tribes, with no 
defense but the Cross, and though constantly passing 
through scenes of violence and outrage, and living amid 
slaughter and rapine, not a hair of his head has been 
injured. We have been delighted, during the passage, 
with his recitals of Indian habits, customs, wars, wor- 
ship, &c, &c. On his recent return to St. Louis, where 
he contributed largely, by his efforts in Europe, to 
endow a College, Father De Smet traveled, with an 
Indian companion, 3,000 miles through the wilderness, 
by a pocket compass. His Letters to the Superior of 
his Order, recently published, make a volume of exceed- 
ing interest. He is laboring, with intelligence and zeal, 
to introduce the virtues of civilization, without its vices, 
among the Indians. He first impresses the truths of 
Revelation upon their minds and then instructs them in 
the pursuit of Agriculture. His present visit to the Old 
"World is connected with his philanthropic duties. He 
returns to the Rocky Mountains in November by the 
way of the Columbia River. My traveling companions 
have made a donation to the good Father for the bene- 
fit of his Indians. 



Letters from Europe. 13 

We have also as compagnons du voyage, Bishop 
Hughes, of New York, and Bishop Purcell, of Ohio, 
two eminent and excellent Ecclesiastics of the Catholic 
Church. As educated and enlightened men, they have 
been conversed with and listened to by us all with 
pleasure and advantage. But as Ministers of the Gos- 
pel, their presence has imparted a still higher interest. 
On the first Sabbath out, Bishop Hughes preached a 
sermon, standing at the step of the mizzen mast, which 
was most attentively listened to by a congregation of 
over two hundred. The subject (St. Paul's epistle to 
the Romans, eleventh chapter, from the twenty-second 
to the last verse) was appropriate, and his commentary 
truly impressive. He made the ocean a witness in favor 
of the truth of Revelation. He spoke of it, too, as a 
glorious page in the great book of Nature, which could 
not be contemplated without exciting more of admira- 
tion than of awe. Man, he said, may boast of his 
power and wisdom as displayed in the construction of 
this strong and beautiful ship, but how impotent is man's 
power and how fruitless his wisdom, until Cod, in His 
abounding goodness, fills our canvas with His winds ! 
On the following Sabbath the same community reassem- 
bled for Divine Worship. Bishop Purcell officiated. 
His sennon was designed as a vindication of the Truths 
of Revelation, and to enforce the duties of Faith and 
obedience. His language and manner were fervent and 
affectionate. He entered upon a train of argument to 
show how reason and philosophy expose and confound 
their teachers, in which he was truly impressive and 
conclusive. Not a word was uttered by either of these 



, 



14 Thurlow Weed's 

good Bishops to which all Christians would not heartily 
respond. 

I had often heard of Bishop Puecell, of Cincinnati, 
as a man much beloved by his own people, and as much 
respected by all others. He is worthy of affection and 
regard, for all the kindliest elements are mixed up in 
his character. 

Of Bishop Hughes, to whose enlightened conversa- 
tions upon various subjects I derived much instruction, I 
shall speak in another letter. 

Sunday Afternoon, June 25. 

The calm was broken yesterday by a fresh southeast- 
erly wind, which compelled us about three o'clock p. M. 
to shorten sail. I lay on deck — it blew rather too hard 
for landsmen to stand — while the sailors were taking in, 
first the light sails, and then reefing the larger sheets, 
and can now sympathize understandingly with those 
who admire and celebrate the sailor's enthusiasm and 
gallantry. The wind seems their element. The men 
who had been lounging lazily about the ship during the 
calm, when a young tempest came, sprang lightly into 
the tops, some laying out upon the yards, and others 
ascending higher to furl the main-top-gallant sail, the 
ship, in the meantime, bounding over billows that made 
her bow and stern alternately describe angles of forty- 
five degrees. 

The easterly wind is driving us off our course. The 
Captain's observation and reckoning at twelve o'clock 
to-day, brought us within an hundred miles of Land, 
and about thirty miles northward of Cape Clear, the 
entrance to the British Channel. "With the wind as it is 
now, we expect to make the Land to-morrow morning, 



Letters from Europe. 15 

and then to decide whether it is best to attempt the 
South, or take the North Channel. 

I have been struck with the variations in time as we 
have been running down from a longitude of 59 into 
one of 14. Bishop Hughes, who has a truth-telling 
watch, has kept his New York time. By his watch it is 
now nine o'clock, p. M. And yet you at Albany are 
just coming from the afternoon Churches, at five. 
When we were at Breakfast this morning, at eight, few, 
if any of you had opened your eyes; and before the 
sentinel in Sheriff Adams' belfry sings "past eleven 
o'clock and all is well," it will be daylight here. 

Monday Morning, June 26. 

We went on deck this morning, expecting to be 
greeted with a view of Land, but were sadly disap- 
pointed. The wind came off dead ahead about mid- 
night, since which time we have been heading to wind- 
ward, and are yet some forty miles from Land, without 
any hope of getting into the channel until the wind 
changes. 

Twelve o'clock, M. — The Captain, who was intent yes- 
terday and to-day upon his charts, &c, has just taken 
an observation. His reckoning shows us about twenty- 
five miles from Land, and about thirty -five from Valen- 
tia, a small port on the Northwest coast of Ireland, 
whence he has concluded to run, and where many of us 
intend to Land, and make an excursion thro' the Green 
Isle. 

Four o'clock, P.M. — The wind has baffled us. By 
drawing around two points to the north and east we are 
defeated in our intention of making the harbor of 
Valentia. She has been put about and is now running 



16 Thuelow Weed's 

south along the Coast, with the hope of such a change 
of wind as will enable us to get into the British Channel. 
Seven o'clock, P. M. — We are just called on Deck 
from the Tea Table to see Land ! The outline of what 
seems a high mountain was first discovered. High, 
bald, headlands in the County of Kerry, were soon dis- 
tinctly seen. Then came the Skellig rocks looming up 
like "Butter Hill" at the mouth of our own Highlands. 
One of these high promontories, in the distance we are 
viewing it, assumes the form of a majestic Mansion of 
fine architectural proportions, with roof, chimneys, &c. 

Tuesday Morning, June 27. 

We have been all night struggling with a head wind, 
and find ourselves, this morning, more than twenty 
miles from Cape Clear. The Irish shore is but ten miles 
off, and its mountains of rocks, with their Druidical 
towers, are in full view. The coast is barren and 
frowning. 

Five o'clock, P. M. — We have been all day "dragging 
our slow length along" the Coast of Ireland, and though 
most of our Passengers have been restless and impa- 
tient, to me it has been a day of interest and enjoyment. 
We have passed the Bay of Bantry, and several bold 
head-lands, of which the Steerage passengers, who are 
going back to " Sweet Ireland," have been giving me 
traditions and legends. A bright sun and balmy 
atmosphere have enabled me to remain all day on deck 
enjoying these rugged views. At three o'clock the 
Steamer Acadia, from Boston, came in sight, pushing 
directly for Cape Clear, the point at which we are aim- 
ing. Her appearance was indicated long before the 
vessel could be seen, by a black column of smoke 



Letters from Europe. 17 

streaking the horizon. She passed within about seven 
miles of us and pushed up the Channel. The Acadia 
left Boston on the 16th inst. She will therefore make 
a twelve days' passage. But for head winds and calms 
we should have been in Liverpool on Saturday last. 

Six o'clock, P. M. — We are at last ojDposite Cape Clear, 
with the ship's head to the Channel ; but there is only 
a breath of wind. This comes, however, from the right 
quarter. If we should get becalmed off the Cove of 
Cork, which is some 60 miles from here, we go ashore 
there with the Bishops. 

Wednesday Morning, June 28. 

We have been three weeks at Sea, and are still 
becalmed in the British Channel, 290 miles from Liver- 
pool. Last evening, an hour before sunset, a small 
boat from Crook Haven Harbor came alongside us, 
with fresh Fish, as we supposed, but as it turned out, 
with Potatoes only. They offered to take passengers 
ashore, and Mr. Tobin, the old gentleman referred to in 
another Letter, with his Wife and Daughter, finding 
themselves within a few miles of their native town, left 
the ship. In reply to our questions for news, they said 
that Troops had arrived at Dublin, and that O'Connell 
was at Shibbereen, his Place in the Mountains, where 
he had made a Speech to 300,000 people. 

Twelve o'clock, 31. — An Irish " Hooker" came alongside 
after breakfast, with whom 15 emigrants concluded to 
land. The Captain of the " Hooker " informed us that 
there was a tremendous and destructive Gale here on 
the 7th of June, the day we left New York. Much 
shipping was lost, and among other Vessels one Ameri- 
can ; but of all this you will have accounts. The Cap- 



18 Thurlow Weed's 

tain of the " Hooker " informed us that O'Connell is to 
address a mass meeting at Rinsale on Monday. My 
desire to see him is so great that I went below to pack 
a few changes in my Carpet-Bag, and go ashore, but 
while we were getting ready, the " Hooker " was cast 
off, at the instance of the friends who were unwilling 
to let us go off with " wild Irishmen " in a crazy craft. 
We intend, nevertheless, to avail ourselves of the next 
opportunity for landing. 

5 o'clock, P. M. — A row-boat has just come alongside, 
and I close this Letter to get a few " traps " ready for 
a descent upon Ireland. The boatmen are to tow nine 
of us ashore for ten shillings sterling each. So good- 
bye to the George Washington ! 



Letters from Europe. 19 



III. 

COURTMACSHERRY (Ireland), June 28, 1843. 

I am here, with my foot upon the Green Isle — the 
land of my admiration and sympathy from boyhood to 
the maturity of life. 

I left our good ship beating up the channel against 
an obstinate head wind at 5 o'clock p. m., yesterday, 
in a small boat that came off to us, and after a pull of 
three hours, made this port before sunset. It is a 
delightful spot. The village is situated in the elbow 
of a deep bay, and consists of a row or continuous 
block of stone cottages, all on the side of the street 
facing the water, while the terraces rising back of the 
village are dotted with cabins, and patclied with fields 
clothed in verdure and fruitfulness. 

The arrival at an obscure town upon the Coast, of 
nine strangers, with a formidable array of trunks, &c, 
created quite a stir ; but when it came to be known that 
two Catholic Bishops from America and two Priests 
from France (though one of the latter is from Belgium 
and the other from Bavaria), were among us, the sensation 
was truly amusing. The "Repealers" gathered about 
us in swarms. The Coast Officer and the Constabu- 
lary Guard appeared embarrassed and excited. I called 
upon the Excise Officer and invited him to examine our 
luggage. In walking with me over to the Hotel, he 
remarked that as our landing there in the somewhat 



20 Thuelow Weed's 

excited state of the country, would occasion inquiry 
and remark, it would be his 'duty to make his examina- 
tion more rigid than under ordinary circumstances. He 
then proceeded to take our names, places of residence 
and vocation, and to examine whether we had arms or 
munitions concealed. He then inquired the object of 
our visit and the length of time we intended to remain 
in Ireland. All this was done with the utmost delicacy 
and propriety on the part of the officer. We informed 
him that we took advantage of calms and head winds to 
leave our ship and run tlnough Ireland to Liverpool, 
hoping that we should be so fortunate as to hear O'Cotf- 
nell and to see Father Mathew. 

The Custom House examination over, we were seated 
to our first supper in Ireland. It consisted of Bacon 
and Eggs, fried in the Bar-room (a small 7 by 9), where 
twenty men were smoking their pipes ; served, however, 
upon a clean linen tablecloth, with a fresh roll of butter 
and a strongly malted loaf of bread. 

After Supper, the Bishops went with the resident 
Catholic Clergyman, others were sent to neighboring 
houses (two only lodging at the Hotel), and I accepted 
the invitation of the Commandant of the Coast Guard 
to take a bed at his house, where I passed the evening 
and night very pleasantly. 

The only mode of conveyance, in the morning, was 
an Irish "Jaunting Car" with one horse. Nor could a 
second vehicle be raised in the village ! A messenger 
was therefore despatched (for an English shilling) on 
foot to Bandon (nine miles) for another car; and at 5 
a. m., two one-horse "Jaunting Cars," and a scraggy 



Letters fkom Europe. 21 

looking cart for the luggage, "reined up" before the 
Hotel. 

The Bishops were up at 4 o'clock and at 5 went to 
the Chapel for Mass, where an immense congregation 
(the information of their arrival having been spread 
during the night) had assembled. 

At 6 o'clock, having taken a dish of black tea and a 
boiled egg, we set off for Cork, a distance of 30 miles. 
The morning air was pure and bracing, and the ride 
was far more intensely interesting than any I ever 
enjoyed. The whole scene was panoramic. Every 
rod, foot, and almost every inch of soil, is in a high 
state of cultivation. Indeed the earth is here taxed to 
its utmost capacity. But vegetable nature teems not 
alone. The country is equally prolific in men, women 
and children. Ireland is in a literal state of human 
incubation. Ever and anon we came into clusters of 
cabins and shanties which seemed like intellectual ant- 
hills. And these cabins were shared in common by 
bipeds and quadrupeds. In numberless instances, I 
saw People, Pigs, Poultry and Goats, quietly enjoying 
the same and only room in the cabin. 

We saw hundreds of women and children engaged in 
spreading sea-weed and sand (impregnated with salt) 
as manure. We overtook and passed many carts, each 
with about 12 or 15 bushels of Potatoes, on their way 
to Bandon, where they get at the rate of two pence 
(four cents) for 24 pounds. In this way the poorest 
class of tenants pay their rent. 

The lands we passed over to-day (30 miles) are prin- 
cipally owned by three noblemen, viz. : Lord Shannon 
(deceased), Lord Bandon, and Lord Cork. And for 



22 Thurlow Weed's 

the munificent support of these three Families, more 
than a million of their fellow creatures are ground to 
an earth designed by a beneficent Providence to furnish 
an abundance for all. 

On our way into Courtrnacsherry, we passed in full 
view of the Old Head of Kinsale, the rock upon which 
the Packet ship Albion was so disastrously wrecked 
many years ago. 

The crew of the small boat in which we came ashore 
consisted of five men. -They had a long, hard pull 
against a strong current and head wind. One of our 
party who had a bottle of white wine in his Carpet Bag, 
offered it to the men. Two of them drank of it, but 
the other three declined, saying that they had taken 
Father Mathew's Pledge. These men added, that they 
were out in that boat through all weathers, and by 
night as well as by day ; but that they could endure 
cold better, and work longer and pull harder since they 
took the Pledge, and that with God's help, they would 
never break it. 

Several of the most beautiful mansions between 
Courtrnacsherry and Cork are occupied by Protestant 
Clergymen, whose fields and glebes enrich and adorn 
their "livings;" and yet their congregations, in some 
instances, scarcely extend beyond their own household. 
But these Church establishments draw their support 
from the toil and sweat of the poor peasants, who wor- 
ship where their Fathers worshipped, in the humble 
chapels at whose altars thousands are kneeling daily. 

We passed, every few miles, "Constabulary" stations, 
where guards are posted to preserve the peace. These 



Letters from Europe. 23 

guards, in neat uniform, are the finest looking young 
men I have ever seen. 

We passed, also, the Fair of Ballamahone, in a beau- 
tiful valley, where large herds of cattle, sheep, hogs, 
&c, and "much people" had collected. 

The broad and fertile domain of Lord Bandon, 
through which we passed, would have delighted me far 
more, if I could have forgotten the tens of thousands 
who toil and sorrow, that this one man may reap and 
revel. 

But the object of the most absorbing interest was the 
majestic ruin of the ancient Abbey of Timoleague, 
whose moss grown and ivy protected walls and tower, 
could they speak, would reveal the history of many cen- 
turies. Had I known that we were to pass this splendid 
ruin, I should have made arrangements to view it more 
at leisure. There are, upon its tablets and tombstones, 
written memorials of more than three hundred years ; 
and within its crumbling walls, the exhumed remains 
of thousands who have been entombed there, have been 
gathered in heaps, exposed to the view of all who enter 
the ruin, teaching lessons of human nothingness, far 
more impressive and solemn than language could utter. 

At Bandon, a large and thrifty looking town, we ex- 
changed our " Jaunting Cars," for a " Royal Mail 
Coach," upon the outside of which I rode to Cork, and 
took lodgings at the "Imperial Hotel." Cork is a busy, 
enterprising City, with 110,000 inhabitants. Its envi- 
rons are extensive, highly cultivated and exceedingly 
picturesque. The scenery which borders the " Cove of 
Cork," a narrow, deep stream, extending to the British 
Channel, is of surpassing richness and beauty. The 



24 Thurlow Weed's 

citizens of Cork commemorated the visit of George IV 
by the erection of an Equestrian Statue of liim on 
a Public Square, by the side of then* beautiful river, 
the Lee 

Having arranged some Custom House matters touch- 
ing a box of favorite Havanas, presented to me just as 
I was leaving New York by my friend Stetson of the 
Astor, I called upon Counsellor Walsh, to whose Lady 
I had a Letter of introduction from her Brother (Doct. 
O'Callaghan), and from whom I learned that Father 
Mathew had already gone, or was on the eve of depart- 
ure for London. Mr. W. hastened with me to the good 
Father's Temperance Rooms, where his Secretary in- 
formed us that the Prelate did not leave until half-past 
six o'clock in the afternoon, and was expected at the 
Rooms at 2 o'clock. At that horn- 1 called again with 
Mr. W. A large number of People were assembled, 
waiting to take the Pledge. In about ten minutes 
Father Mathew arrived. When introduced- as an 
American, he gave me both hands, cordially and kindly, 
and expressed much regret that he was compelled to 
leave home so soon. 

The People of both sexes, old and young, who were 
there to receive the Pledge, knelt around the Reformer, 
who, in the most persuasive and affectionate voice and 
manner, enjoined upon them a life of total abstinence 
from all intoxicating drinks. They rose with joy and 
gratitude beaming from then- eyes, received their certifi- 
cate and medal, and went their way rejoicing. I looked 
upon this scene with deep emotion, and would not ex- 
change the luxury of feeling it inspired for a view of 
the proudest pageant Europe can present. 



Letters from Europe. 25 

Dismissing these People, Father Mathew entered 
warmly into conversation about America. Informing 
him that Bishop Hughes was my fellow-passenger, he 
took my arm and started immediately for the Hotel, to 
pay his respects to the Bishop, and remained with us 
for an horn - . 

The Portraits we have of this excellent man are so 
faithful, that had I met him accidentally in the street I 
should have recognized and spoken to him as "Father 
Mathew." I say that I should have spoken to him, 
because there is so much of gentleness and benevo- 
lence — so much to admire and love — in his face and 
form, that you could not pass him. I have never seen 
so many of the bright and beautiful virtues as bloom 
and blend in this good man's heart, displayed and 
revealed in the " human face divine." 

At six o'clock last evening, Father Mathew left for 
Liverpool, York and London, where he has engage- 
ments. This is, I believe, his first Temperance visit to 
England. 

The general expectation that this truly philanthropic 
Divine is about to visit America, will not immediately 
be realized. He has a strong desire to visit us, but 
nothing definite has been settled. If he should be led 
to believe that his presence and efforts among us would 
promote the cause to which he has devoted himself, he 
(old me that he would endeavor to cross the Atlantic 
about this time next year. 

My visit in Cork was much too brief, owing to the 
necessity of hastening up to Liverpool to reclaim my 
Trunk and to rejoin my traveling companions. But it 
was a visit full of incidents and interest. 

4 



26 Thurlow "Weed's 

I rose early this morning and proceeded to the Con- 
vent, where Bishop Hughes' was saying Mass, and 
where I was hospitably invited to remain to Breakfast 
by the resident Clergyman. And at half-past twelve 
declining the kindest tenders of hospitality from Coun- 
sellor Walsh and Lord Bishop Murphy, I took Coach 
for Dublin. Adieu. 



Letters from Europe. 27 



IV. 

DUBLIN, July 1, 1843. 

I left Cork after a visit far too short to enjoy a tithe 
of its beauties, at half-past 12 o'clock yesterday. The 
clouds threatening rain, against which I am not yet 
India-rubber proof, I took an inside seat, with the privi- 
lege of riding on the box as far as I should choose. 

The distance from Cork to Dublin is 124 miles. But 
these are Irish miles, eleven of which make fourteen 
American miles. This explains what is really less of a 
"bull" than I had supposed, in the remark that "Irish 
miles are longer than Yankee miles, altho' there are not 
so many of them." 

The road out of Cork ran for a mile or two along the 
river, where I saw nets drawn, from which numbers of 
that beautiful and delicious fish, the Salmon, were thrown 
panting and floundering upon the beach. The coach- 
man informed me that Salmon are frequently obtained 
here for eight pence (sixteen cents) a pound. Those I 
saw taken from the nets aA r eraged about three pounds 
in weight. They resemble our Salmon in gracefulness 
of form, but are of a more silvery color. 

The suburbs of Cork, where the gentry have 
" Places," are decked in the richest varieties of floral 
embroidery. The scene, as the coach dashed noiselessly 
over a perfectly smooth road at the rate of ten miles an 
hour, was one of changing but undiminished beauty. 

We dined at 7 o'clock p. m. at Clonmell, the county 



28 Thurlow Weed's 

town of Tipperaiy, upon the river Suir, distinguished, 
among other things, for its sufferings from Cromwell's 
army, and for its having been the birthplace of Lau- 
rence Sterne. We passed close to the ruins of an old 
Castle, which held out longest against Cromwell's army. 
Near Clonmell the mansion and grounds of the Earl 
of Donoughmore are seen. This town has a popula- 
tion of 16,000. The Asylum for the Insane at this 
place, in extent and architecture, is so identical with 
our own Insane Asylum at Utica, that I am sure both 
were erected from the same plan. 

We also had a fine view of Clogheen, near the Gal- 
tees and Knocknteledown Mountains which loom high 
above and look down upon a wide valley abounding in 
verdure and fertility. Near this town you see the villa 
of Viscount Lismore. And here, if my poetry does 
not halt, poor Power vised to bring down thunders of 
applause by his song of " Paddy Carey" — 

" It was in the town of nate Clogheen 
Where Paddy Carey first was seen." 

Fermoy, through which place we passed, is a most 
flourishing town of 8,000 inhabitants. The modem 
portion of it exhibits much architectural beauty. It 
has twelve arched bridges over the Blackwater River, 
all enveloped with Ivy. The ruins of Ballypatrick, 
Grlanworth and Cavinhabrick Castles are all in full view. 
You see, too, upon the surrounding highlands, many 
towers, erected in the sixth century, and dedicated to 
Druidical worship. Off towards Mallow, the seat of 
Lord Ennismore is seen. 

The Coachman directed my attention to the Domain 
and Castle of the Earl of Kingston, extending over a 



Letters from Europe. 29 

wide extent of rich and highly cultivated country, and 
spreading out like a vast carpet of verdure, at the foot 
of the Galtees Mountains. 

During the afternoon, some ten or twelve miles from 
Clonmell, we passed several hundred people (men and 
women) in groups of ten, twenty, thirty and forty, 
returning from a Funeral. I made a remark to the 
Coachman in regard to their quiet, orderly demeanor. 
" You may thank Father Mathew for that," said he ; " in 
former years (he has driven over the same road fifteen 
years) I should have found difficulty in getting the 
Coach along - without running over these same poor 
creatures. Then they drank whiskey at their Funerals, 
and went home drunk, noisy and quarrelsome." 

The women all displayed clean white caps, and all 
wore cloaks. I have scarcely seen a bonnet (out of 
Dublin and Cork) in Ireland. The men wore blue 
coats and gray (short) breeches, generally with as many 
pieces, and of as many hues, as are seen in a patch- 
Avork bed quilt. New clothes are not as easily come by 
in Ireland as in America, nor are old ones as readily 
thrown or given away. Here a man's coat and a warm 
cloak, among the peasantry, serve them for fifteen or 
twenty years. 

Callen, a port town in Kilkenny, once flourishing 
and wealthy, is now desolate enough. Cromwell 
destroyed all its buildings and three Castles, of which 
the ruins remain. The Tower of the Augustine Abbey, 
founded by the Ormond family in 1450. is now its prin- 
cipal attraction. 

We approached the city of Kilkenny, just as the sun 
cast its morning beams upon the massive but exquisite 



30 Thurlow Weed's 

masonry of her numerous public edifices. I had heard 
much of Kilkenny, but from some delusion, growing I 
suppose out of popular catch-words about " the Kil- 
kenny cats," &c, I was surprised to find it one of the 
most beautiful Cities in the world. It rests upon two 
hills and is seen most advantageously. Several fine 
bridges of hewn stone stretch across the River Nore. 
Its College, Free School, Female Asylum, Cathedral, 
Bishop's Palace, Court House, &o, &c, are noble 
structures. The Priory of St. John and the Black 
Abbey, founded by the Earl of Pembroke, are magnifi- 
cent ruins. There is a proverb which claims for Kil- 
kenny, the luxuries of " fire without smoke, air without 
fog, water without mud, and streets paved with marble." 
One of the streets for nearly a mile, in length, is built 
up entirely with fine marble mansions hewn from her 
own quarries. The city is also supplied with coal from 
her own collieries. The Earl of Ormond resides here, 
in the Castle erected by his ancestors in 1192. Kil- 
kenny has a population of nearly 30,000. 

The approach to Dublin, even at a distance of 
twenty or more miles, was indicated by a higher (if pos- 
sible) state of cultivation and the increased number of 
mansions and villas. In every direction, as far as the 
eye could reach, the bountiful earth was yielding forth 
its treasures in all their varieties and with the utmost 
profusion. 

But I am sorry to say this bright picture has its dark 
back-ground. Upon canvas, the shade is required to 
give effect to the lighter tints ; but in life, I could wish 
that the darkness which reflects the beauties of Ireland, 
were dispensed with. The tenantry by whom these 



Letters from Europe. 31 

teeming fields are cultivated, the hands hardened by 
toil, neither possess nor enjoy the productions of a pro- 
lific soil. They sow and they reap, it is true, but the 
harvest is for others. Their first fruits and their failings 
enter not into their own dark, cheerless cabins. They 
may look upon the bounteous gifts of the soil they till, 
but to all their other senses these luxuries are denied. 

But by far the most painful scenes I have witnessed, 
are in the crowds of wretched poor who surround and 
beleaguer strangers, imploring charity in all the forms 
and by every gesture of supplication. The coach, 
whenever it stops, is beset by the miserable and the 
maimed, whose piteous appeals for relief would melt 
steel or adamant. Nor are these cases of unreal suffer- 
ing. Their distress is as appalling as their supplications 
are eloquent ; and the bestowal of a penny, or even a 
"halfpence," confers so much happiness that it is a 
luxury to give. At one place, after my copper coin was 
exhausted, half a dozen wretched women, in whose faces 
want and sickness had made deep furrows, were so 
importunate that I told them I could give them no more 
for the want of change. In reply, they said, " if you 
can spare us sixpence we will divide it among our- 
selves." One of them received the "bit," got it changed, 
and as the coach was starting they all came, penny in 
hand, to give me their blessing. If, as I believe, these 
small alms go to feed the famishing and destitute in 
their squalid hovels, it is a cheap way of mitigating 
human misery. 

In the mud-built and poverty stricken villages 
through which we pass, rude signs are almost as fre- 
quent as in our own more favored ones. " Lodgings " 



32 Thuklow Weed's 

invite the traveler into at least a dozen doors, in places 
containing not more than thrice as many cabins, and 
these, so far as I could judge, at the best, rejoice in but 
two apartments, where "man and beast" bestow them- 
selves promiscuously. In the other cabins the cobbler 
or the tailor are seen plying the awl and the needle, 
whose shops are shared in common by their wives, 
children and porkers. Again you are informed in 
badly spelt English, that " Judy Flannagan," or some 
other petticoat publican, is " Licensed to sell Spirits and 
Beer." In one place I saw a sign with a frothing mug 
of Ale as an emblem, over which was written "This 
Coio gives good milk" and on the opposite side of the 
street was a board through which ran a stream of water, 
with the inscription of " This Cow gives better milk." 
Within a few miles of Dublin, is a block of neat, taste- 
ful, rose-embowered cottages, on the doors of which 
"Widow's Houses," is written in garnished capitals, 
but as I was an " Inside " when the coach passed, I 
could not learn from our " Sam Weller " the nature of 
the information which these "Vidders" intended to 
communicate. If they thus advertise for husbands, 
and their charms of person and character correspond 
with their tidy and chaste cottages, I will not do Irish 
gallantry the injustice to suppose that they will remain 
long in a " state of single blessedness." 

Our coach drove into the square court connected with 
the Dublin Post-Office, — where it was due, as the clock 
told 7 a. m. We took lodgings at the " Imperial Hotel," 
in Sackville street. Remembering with what eloquent 
indignation Gov. Seward, in his Letters from this city, 
denounced the conversion of the Irish Parliament House 



Letters from Europe. 33 

into a receptacle for money-changers, my first visit, 
after breakfast, was to the now " Bank of Ireland." 
The exterior alone of what was once the evidence of 
Irish nationality, remains as it was. All else has been 
desecrated. I walked through a wide corridor, extend- 
ing around the whole building, formerly occupied as a 
" House of Commons." The " Lords " occupied the 
Hall above, and I am told that the chairs in which they 
sat while perfidiously consenting to a disastrous " Union," 
are still preserved in one of the apartments, but I did 
not see them. I should, however, dearly like to see the 
tables of the money-changers overset, and the noble 
pile in which men now chaffer about rags and dust, 
resounding with the eloquence of disenthralled Free- 
men. 

Trinity College, far the most extensive seat of learn- 
ing I had ever seen, is nearly opposite the Bank. Its 
various edifices occupy three full squares, in the heart 
of the city. This is the only Protestant College in 
Ireland. It contains a monument to Provost Bald- 
win, who bequeathed £80,000 to the College, and its 
organ was presented by Queen Elizabeth. Its Library 
contains over 100,000 volumes. Trinity Park, in the 
rear of the College, contains 20 acres. 

But I did not attempt to describe Cork, nor will I 
now speak more of the magnificent Public Institutions 
of Dublin, for I hope to see both of these cities when 
more at leisure. 

I strolled along George's Quay, where the Shipping 
is wedged in, as with us, except there are no slips or 
piers. But commerce is in a most languishing state. 
Hundreds of vessels seem wholly unemployed. Indeed, 



34 Thurlow Weed's 

I saw but here and there a ship either taking- in or dis- 
charging cargo. The busy hum and cheerful voices 
which greet the ear in Front and South streets, New 
York, are not heard here. 

The afternoon was wet and cold. In going out I 
wore my cloak — prized more from the fact that it was 
a New Year's Present (in 1835) from much valued 
Whig friends, than for its intrinsic value. Finding 
myself an object of that attention that proves anything 
but agreeable, I returned to the Hotel and asked the 
civil Porter who stands in the Hall, what there was 
about me that made people stare. " It's your honor's 
cloak, Sir. Sure, it is a very decent garment, but the 
gintlemen have given them up intirely. Nobody wears 
cloaks now, but the poor women creatures." So that 
in this particular, at least, I shall have to change my 
habit. 

During the afternoon I called upon the Rev. Dr. 
Uewick, an eminent and excellent Divine, to whom I 
had a Letter of introduction from our Rev. Dr. Sprague. 
After an agreeable conversation, I was allowed to take 
my leave, with a promise to breakfast with them on 
Monday morning. 

In the evening I went to " the Royal Dublin The- 
atre," where, as the newspapers informed me, Miss Fau- 
cett, daughter of the distinguished London Comedian, 
was to take a Benefit. The Drama really has sadly 
depreciated, or, dropping from pathos to bathos, it never 
was " the thing it was cracked up to be." The first 
piece (some new production) was in the last act when. I 
arrived. The Players spoke their parts "trippingly" 
enough, without " sawing the air " or " imitating nature," 



Letters from Europe. 35 

very abominably. Indeed, Miss Faucett gave much 
effect to the part she was playing. The after-piece 
being the " Irish Tutor," an inimitable farce, I expected 
a treat, but was so egregiously disappointed, that after 
seeing Mr. Leonard murder the first act of " Dr. 
O'Toole," I left. 

But I saw what did interest me, in a full and fashion- 
able audience. I had often heard, and now believe, 
that the educated and refined circles in Dublin were 
made up of the finest looking people in the world. I 
have seen more display of dress and opera-glass osten- 
tation in the. Park Theatre, but I have never seen so 
much of natural politeness, unaffected bearing and sim- 
plicity of taste, as graced the Theatre Royal, Dublin, 
on Saturday evening. Adieu ! 

DUBLIN, July 3, 1843. 

Leaving other and previous Letters to explain how 
and why I chance to be here, let me hasten to give a 
brief account of the Great Repeal Movement in which 
Dublin has been engaged, heart and soul, to-day. I was 
fortunate in witnessing this sublime spectacle — and still 
more fortunate in having a position that enabled me to 
see and hear all. 

Mr. O'Connell, who arrived in Dublin, from a trium- 
phant Repeal visitation through the Island, on Saturday 
afternoon, sent his nephew to say that he would be 
happy to see Bishop Hughes and his friends at half- 
past nine on Monday (this) morning, at which time we 
repaired to his residence in Marion Square. 

We were received in the Library by Mr. John O'Con- 
nell, who informed us that his Father had not yet come 



36 Thurlow Weed's 

down. Presently, however, the "Liberator" appeared, 
apologizing 1 for late rising with the remark, that he had 
been "taking a full drink of sleep," as was his custom 
on returning from his communions with the People. 
He went, with much enthusiasm, into a description of 
the mighty up-risings he had witnessed, all distinguished, 
as he said, for devoted patriotism under the guidance of 
reason and judgment. At Skibbereen, at Cork, at Gal- 
way, &c, where hundreds of thousands assembled, the 
most perfect order and quiet reigned. So conscious 
were all classes that these movements would be charac- 
terized as much for good order as for enthusiasm, that 
women and children ventured without hesitation into 
the currents and streams of human beings. At the 
Cork meeting over 500 Women were in the Procession. 

Our interview with Mr. O'Connell closed with an 
invitation to Dinner at six o'clock that afternoon. 

But in the meantime he was to receive " The Trades 
of Dublin" in review, and address a meeting at Donny- 
brook Green. We therefore returned to his House, by 
invitation, at eleven o'clock. At twelve, Mr. O'Connell 
appeared upon his Balcony in the presence of tens of 
thousands who had assembled there, and by whom he 
was received with acclamation. His two Sons, with a 
ti'oop of grandchildren, with our party, were with Mr. 
O'C. in the balcony, for nearly three hours, and until 
the procession had passed. 

Each Trade had its Banners and its Band, and each, 
as they passed, made the "welkin ring" with then cheers 
for "Ireland and O'Connell." 

The Banners told how fatally "The Trades" had suf- 
fered from the "Union." That of the Coopers showed 



Letters from Europe. 37 

that in 1800 there were 964 of their craft employed, 
while in 1843 only 183 had work. The Bricklayers, in 
1800, were 3,000 strong, but in 1843, only 300 have 
employment. 

On one Banner, with an inscription of " God save the 
Queen," Mr. O'Connell, in Green, is kneeling to her 
Majesty. On another "America and our Friends," 
appeared conspicuously. Several contained this motto : 
" United to support, but not combined to injure." And 
on another, with a fine view of the Irish Parliament 
House (now the Bank of Ireland) was: "Our old House 
and Homer 

Prominent in the Procession, with a Trumpet, was a 
man called "Tat of the Road," distinguished for his en- 
thusiastic attachment to Liberty, his herculean strength, 
and his physical power of endurance. 

At a quarter past two, p. m., the last of the Trades 
(the " Chimney Sweepers," with a wild Band and a rude 
Banner) passed, and then Mr. O'Connell's carriage, 
with his Son, Bishop Hughes and Father De Smet (an 
eminently philanthropic missionary from the Rocky 
Mountains, who was our fellow-passenger), followed by 
that in which the rest of our party rode, entered the 
Procession. 

And then the vast multitude, like the waving ot a 
wheat-field, moved forward to Donnybrook Green, fill- 
ing the ah* with its shouts. The streets through which 
we passed were wedged full of human beings. In the 
doors and windows, and upon the balconies and roofs, 
bright eyes beamed and handkerchiefs waved. When 
the streets narrowed it seemed impossible that such 
masses could be squeezed through them, but yet by 



38 Thuelow Weed's 

care, forbearance and kindness, all did get through with* 
out the slightest injury. Women, with children in their 
arms, walked with their husbands in the Procession. 
The utmost order prevailed. There was no noise but 
in the cheers that came spontaneously from the heart. 
There was no drunkenness, nor were any of the pro- 
prieties of life disregarded. 

A staging, with seats and an awning, was erected in 
the centre of the Green, around which an immense mul- 
titude had assembled before we arrived. " Make way 
for the Americans" was shouted by those nearest our 
carriage, and immediately a passage was opened, 
through which we were cheered on to the staging. 

But it was now four o'clock, and after the objects of 
the meeting had been stated by John O'Connell, Esq., 
and the "Liberator" had commenced, in a mild lan- 
guage and graceful manner, I was compelled, most 
reluctantly, to return, in order to get my Letters off for 
the Boston Steamer that leaves Liverpool to-morrow, 
losing not only the Speech, but the honor of dining 
with Thomas Steele, Esq., and other distinguished 
Irish gentlemen who had been invited to meet us at Mr. 
O'Connell's table. 



Letters from Europe. 39 



DUBLIN, July 3, 1843. 

There are no bells to awaken or to summon you to 
Breakfast here, as at our Hotels. Nor are you stunned 
by the sharp, piercing din of an execrable Cong. Bells 
are well enough, but I abhor Congs. Guests begin to 
repair to the " Coffee Room " about 9 o'clock for Break- 
fast, which consists generally of a dish of black Tea, 
dry Toast, sometimes a boiled egg, and always a news- 
paper. This furnishes occupation for an hoiu\ As I 
was up and walking or writing early, a piece of boiled 
salmon or a Porter-House steak was placed upon my 
table, much to the surprise if not to the horror of 
my neighbors. Nor is this the only barbarism of which 
I am guilty. I cannot yet dispense with the Knife as 
one of the appropriate modes of carrying food to the 
mouth, though I had learned from Mrs. Trollope, Basil 
Hall, and Fennimore Cooper, that it was heathenish to 
do so. I am aware that the knife has fallen into disuse at 
all fashionable tables even in America, and I am practic- 
ing with the fork, but cannot yet say much for the pro- 
ficiency made, though with the two implements com- 
bined I am no second rate trencher man. And then it 
is painful to reflect that even after the knife is banished, 
we have but attained to a state of semi-refinement, for 
until the fork is thrown aside, the supremacy of fashion's 
law will be but half vindicated. The good Father De 



40 Thurlow Weed's 

Smet, of whom I have spoken in a former Letter, says 
that the barbarous custom of using knives and forks at 
feasts has not reached a primitive race beyond the 
Rocky Mountains. On one occasion, he says, -where 
he was invited by a powerful Chief to a stew of Dogs, 
the Master of the Feast so far tolerated his infirmity as 
to direct a Squaw to hand him the wooden spoon with 
which the banquet had been stirred, and as the utensil 
was besmeared with blood and grease, the Lady con- 
descended to cleanse it, with a member which her sex 
are accused of using more clamorously. 

But I am wandering too far from Dublin. At eleven 
o'clock this morning I repaired to the Catholic Cathe- 
dral, a magnificent structure near Sackville street, and in 
the central part of the city, where I remained during the 
celebration of high Mass, and to hear a sermon from 
the Rev. Mr. Laffan. The immense aisles were thronged 
with devout worshippers, and without entering into con- 
troverted questions of faith, the solemnities and associa- 
tions of the sanctuary could not fail to impress all 
Christians with a deep sense of their religious duties. 
The heart that realized its obligations to a Creator and 
a Saviour, of whatever faith or creed, could not hesitate 
to bend in gratitude and adoration before that Altar. 
During the several masses an incense was burned which 
diffused a sweet odor throughout the immense chapel, 
while the melody of a powerful organ and a rich choir 
soothed, tranquilized, and subdued all hearts. 

The sermon, or perhaps it were better to call it a 
homily, was familiar and practical. The Preacher's lan- 
guage was somewhat ambitious and his style somewhat 
florid. I was struck with the quaint manner in which 



Letters feom Europe. 41 

one of his periods was rounded. He was urging the 
virtues of fidelity, and as an illustration, dwelt eloquently 
upon the beautiful history of Joseph, who, after his 
brethren had sold him, rose by means of his virtues 
from the humblest to the highest rank. This stranger 
youth, said the Preacher, who had been doomed to a 
menial service in a strange land, by his fidelity in dis- 
charging every duty, was raised from trust to trust, 
advanced from post to post, until he had reached the 
highest station. He was invested with the robes of 
office. He withheld or dispensed the Royal bounty. 
So unlimited was the confidence which his fidelity had 
inspired, that he held the keys of the Ethiopian Queen's 
Exchequer — "Indeed no one could stir, hand or foot with- 
out him." 

I asked a Car-man last evening, to give me half an 
hour's drive. " And where shall I drive you, sir I" "I 
want a look at the city, I replied, show me any part you 
please." " It's hard telling where to drive a gentleman 
who does not know where he would go !" Repeating 
the same desire to him, he looked " bothered" and 
scratched his head, and then said, " Perhaps you would 
not like to pay eighteen pence for half an hour's ride 1" 
I told him I would pay the regular fare, and mounted 
the jaunting car (a delightful vehicle, as I believe I 
have said before), which he put in motion. I informed 
him that I was a stranger, and asked him to point out 
any object of interest that we might pass. Seeing a 
placard on a corner for the Repeal Meeting at Donny- 
brook Green the next day, I remarked that there was a 
Repeal Meeting in New York the day I sailed. This 
waked my man up. " And did you come over with 



42 Thuelow Weed's 

the money that was sent us- from America?" I said 
no, the money was raised after I left, but that I was a 
Repealer. " Thank God that you are, sir, and now I 
shall drive you with pleasure as far as you wish to 
ride. Is it to the Strawberry Gardens that you'll go 1" 
I inquired the distance. " Four miles, sir, and it's a 
charming place, and this is just the time to see the 
Gardens, for it's thousands of bright eyes and beautiful 
faces will smile upon you." I said it was too far to- 
night. " Don't say that, sir. I will have you there in 
no time, and it's only the eighteen pence I'll take, for 
I'll be well paid in the pleasure of hearing you speak 
about America, that blessed country, that's a home for 
the poor creatures as would be starvin' here. I've a 
sister in New York, and a cousin in Baltimore, who 
write back that they eat the Pigs themselves, and have 
plenty of bread to their potatoes." I asked how he 
thought the " repeal " was going on. " We are sure to 
get it, sir, in time, and then the grass will not be grow- 
ing in Dublin, under our feet as you see it now." When 
we returned to the Hotel, I told him to call between 
nine and ten in the morning and take me to the Bar- 
racks ; but before that time our destination had been 
changed, Mr. O'Connell having sent word to Bishop 
Hughes that he would be glad to see him and his friends 
at half-past nine. The Car-man's cup, however, over- 
flowed with joy, for he had the honor of jaunting our 
party to Marion Square, and standing, distinguished 
above his fellows, for an hour and a half in waiting (as 
the thousands who surrounded him seemed to have 
found out) for the " Lord Bishop of New York and 
his friends." 



Letters from Europe. 43 

I gave, in a former Letter, very hastily written, some 
account of the great Donnybrook Repeal Meeting, and 
would enlarge upon it if the newspapers did not con- 
tain a full Report of the Proceedings. It was the 
peaceable uprising of an oppressed People. There was 
no violence, but there was much determination. One 
or two of the Orators (Messrs. Steele and G-rattan) 
spoke vehemently and with denunciations, but their 
invectives awakened no fierceness in the multitude. On 
the contrary, when Mr. O'Connell charged them to 
obey the laws and uphold the Constitution, they fully 
appreciated the wisdom of his exhortation. In the 
course of his speech Mr, O'Connell urged industry and 
temperance upon them. Temperate men, he said, could 
be most useful to themselves, their families and their 
country ! " Are there any teetotalers among you 1" 
" Yes," loudly responded those nearest the stand. " How 
many ?" " Thousands," was the reply. " Then let us 
have a show of teetotalers' hands." And instantly tens 
and twenties of thousands of hands were raised high ! 

It may be said with much truth and emphasis, that 
"the Schoolmaster is abroad" in Ireland. The aim 
of "Agitation" is to instruct and discipline the People. 
"Repeal" discussions teach them the nature of their 
wrongs and the modes of redress. And these lessons 
are universally diffused. Unless I utterly mistake the 
"Signs of the Times," Mr. O'Connell and Father 
Mathew are elevating their countrymen to an intel- 
lectual and moral equality that will prove far more 
effectual in the great work to be accomplished, than 
mere physical force. Argument and reason, rather than 
flints and bayonets, are the weapons to be wielded in 



44 Thurlow Weed's 

the warfare Ireland is waging-for her Restoration to the 
Family of Nations. How idle, therefore, is the threat, 
and how impotent the power of the ministry to put down 
"Repeal Meetings" by force ! 

I have, from my earliest youth, sympathized warmly 
with Ireland, but I never knew — no one can know 
without coming here — how grievously oppressed and 
how utterly down-trodden her People are. The iron 
heel of the Lordly few is imprinted in furrows and 
wrinkles upon the faces of millions. They are the 
victims of injustice and rapacity in all their forms and 
phases. In the Agricultural districts tenants whose 
lot is distinguished by something less of privation and 
suffering than their fellows, owe their better fortune to 
the kindlier natures of their Lords. There are, I am 
glad to be able to say, Noblemen in Ireland who, when 
a tenant cannot pay a rent of six pounds to the acre, 
will take five ; or when the crops are bad, will not turn 
Families adrift to starve ; and what is still better, there 
is here and there a Land-holder who regards his tenants 
as in some sort his children, and is mindful and solicit- 
ous for their welfare. The residences of these good 
men are readily distinguished by the neat and comfort- 
able appearance of the cabins on his domain, and by 
the tidy and cheerful looks and manner of his tenants. 

The Queen is personally very popular in Ireland. I 
heard many warm commendations of her from Re- 
pealers. Much indignation is expressed against the 
Ministry for getting up the " panic," for the purpose, as 
is alleged here, to prevent her Majesty's contemplated 
visit to Ireland. 

Mr. O'Connell not only speaks but thinks highly of 



Letters from Europe. 45 

the Queen. Her head and heart, he says, are sound. 
I have heard, from a source which is entitled to 
credence, a fact which speaks as well for Her Majesty's 
intellect as for her principles. Sir Robert Peel, in some 
part of the Irish debate, in support of his avowed 
determination to put down " Repeal " by force, if force 
should become necessary, remarked that the sentiments 
of the late Monarch, upon this subject, were the senti- 
ments of her present Majesty. When this statement 
reached Buckingham Palace, the Premier was sum- 
moned, and the Queen is understood to have said — 
"In asking you, Sir Robert, to accept the Ministerial 
responsibilities of the Government, I yielded to a 
necessity of the constitution, without any change or 
compromise of my principles. If it should be neces- 
sary, in the discharge of your duty, to interpret my 
sentiments, I hope you will not again impose upon me 
the task of disavowing them." 



46 Thuklow Weed's 



VI. 

LIVERPOOL, July 5, 1843. 

I left Dublin, as stated in a former hasty Letter giv- 
ing a brief account of the great Repeal Rally in that 
city, on the afternoon of the 3d inst. Passengers are 
taken to Kingstown (6 miles) upon the only Railway 
(they don't call 'em Roads here) Ireland boasts. At 
Kingstown we took the steamer " Queen Victoria," a 
strong, seaworthy vessel, commanded by an old fellow 
in an undress naval uniform, who was evidently mind- 
ful alone of his duty. She usually makes about 8 
knots to the hour, but we had a fresh breeze from the 
right quarter, and with the aid of canvas, made ten 
knots. The navigation is difficult in rough weather. 
Everything, therefore, on board these steamers, is made 
strong and fast. In coming in and going out of the 
docks, they handle her as if she was made of glass. 

The fare from Kingstown to Liverpool (120 miles) is 
one pound, or $5. Having left Dublin, after a long 
day's excitement, without the Dinner I was to have 
taken at Mr. O'Connell's, I inquired of a waiter if they 
" eat us on board 1 " " There is Tay for the Passengers 
at 7 o'clock, Sir," was the reply. "Do you give meat 
or fish 1 " " There is plenty of cold beef, mutton and 
chicken, your honor. In troth it's a Dinner, barring the 
hot paraties." 

There were about forty passengers, among whom was 
a "Peer of the Realm," with his Lady, Carriages, 



Letters from Europe. 47 

Horses and retinue. He was a plainly dressed, dull 
looking man, whose lusty, unintellectual Wife might sit 
in Fulton Market without being supposed out of her 
sphere. There was, beside myself, a Yankee on board, 
but as I believe Americans do not always recognize 
each other abroad, I did not speak to him. An English 
gentleman with whom I happened to be seated in the 
Car from Dublin, finding me not " to the manor born," 
was attentive and communicative. He had traveled 
much (on the Continent) and was beginning to think 
America, about which country Lord Morpeth had given 
him favorable accounts, would be worth visiting, after 
we should wipe out the stain of Repudiation. We got 
on with conversation very pleasantly until the Dublin 
Repeal Meeting was introduced. On this topic we 
" snagg'd," and differing so radically about Ireland, he 
took advantage of a lapse in the conversation to join the 
party with which he was traveling, to whom, as I passed 
to the other side of the Boat, I heard him say, " The 
Yankee is an out-and-out Repealer." 

At Tea I sat opposite a burly Yorkshireman whose 
English was almost unintelligible. " Take tea or coffee, 
sir?" inquired the waiter. "Dora your tea — gi'e us 
beer." This man, as I gathered from his talk with a 
countryman, had been in Ireland purchasing cattle. In 
manner and language he reminded me of Dickens' 
"John Brodie," though I doubt whether Nicholas 
Nickleby, or poor Smike, would have found him half as 
generous. 

I found my berth at 10 o'clock and slept till 3 in the 
morning, when, it being broad daylight, I went on deck. 
We were about 18 miles from Liverpool, and near the 



48 Thuklow Weed's 

land, the aspect of which was rough and barren. In 
an hour we entered the river Mersey and began to catch 
glimpses of Liverpool. Here we met a fleet of fishing 
smacks putting out into the channel. Steamers from 
various points of the compass, were seen converging 
towards the narrow entrance to the harbor. The har- 
bor itself was crowded with ships riding at anchor, with 
cargoes, waiting either for a berth within the Docks or 
a tide to get into the Channel. We saw also several 
ships outward bound in tow by steam-tugs. 

I found my friends Schoolckaft and Leitch 
(Watrous went through Ireland with me) at the " Star 
and Garter," not restless and impatient, as I feared, but 
in the quiet and philosophic enjoyment of the comforts 
of an excellent Inn, with their minds wholly abstracted 
from all concern about Trade or Banking. Indeed you 
cannot well conceive how entirely these thorough busi- 
ness men have rid themselves from care. All their 
thoughts of home relate to family and friends. I would 
not undertake to say positively that a " large Tea sale " 
or " a first rate bond and mortgage " would not seduce 
. them from then* breakfasts before ten in the morning, 
but I doubt it. They are no longer slaves to the 
" almighty dollar." 

Though Liverpool is the second, if not the first Com- 
mercial City in the world, there are but few attractions 
here for mere tourists. The merchant lingers about its 
Docks, its Exchanges, &c, &c, more naturally. Its 
magnificent Docks, where vessels discharge and load 
without being affected by a tide that ebbs and flows 
twenty-two feet, are among the noblest artificial 
achievements of the age or nation. Without these 



Letters from Europe. 49 

Docks, commerce, to an y considerable extent, would not 
have thrived here. But with them, Liverpool has be 
come great and rich. The evidences of her wealth 
strike you in the magnitude, massiveness and number 
of her Public Buildings, the costly character of her 
stores and warehouses, the large amount of capital 
invested in trade, &c, &c. Let me give you some 
notion of the cost of the Public Buildings here. The 
Depot of the Manchester Railway occupies more ground 
than our Capitol, City and State Halls, and cost as much 
money as the two former buildings ; and the other pub- 
lic edifices are constructed in the same liberal manner. 
The Post-office and Custom House, with the offices 
which connect them, are splendid structures. The 
Manchester Railway, for a mile and a half from its 
Depot, runs through a Tunnel constructed under the 
street in the heart of the city. Since the " Honorable 
the East India Company" lost its charter, Liverpool 
has gone extensively into that branch of commerce. 

S went into a block of East India stores on the 

quay, and found six stories of each of the eight stores 
filled with Tea. Liverpool is indebted for much of its 
wealth to the Slave Trade, in which her citizens were 
for many years extensively engaged. The population 
is less than 200,000. The Town Hall is a noble build- 
ing, in which several portraits of Noblemen and Mon- 
archs of England, by approved masters, are suspended. 
The Unitarian Church, a few doors from our inn, has 
a brother of Miss Martineau for its Pastor. While I 
write (8 P. m.) three chimes of Bells, from as many 
towers, are pealing merrily. I intend, before I leave, to 
visit the Institution for the Blind, and the Zoological 



50 Thurlow Weed's 

Gardens, each of which are said to reflect much credit 
upon the citizens of Liverpool. 

Cherries, Strawberries and Gooseberries, much larger 
than I have ever seen them — especially the two latter 
— abound here ; but they are dear, and compared with 
ours, vapid and tasteless. The strawberries, though of 
mammoth size, delight the eye only. They lack the 
delicious flavor which our climate imparts to them. 
Cherries sell at 18 cents a pound, strawberries about 
the same, and gooseberries at something less. 

Soles, with Lobster sauce, a delicacy that I have 
heard Englishmen go into ecstasies about, are, to my 
taste, far inferior to the Trout, the Salmon or the Shad, 
of which latter fish they know nothing here. 

Yesterday all the American Ships in the Docks and 
Harbors were tastefully dressed with flags and stream- 
ers, in honor of our National Anniversary, and the 
American Sailors celebrated the Day on shore at their 
Boarding Houses. I strolled along the docks to refresh 
the spirit of patriotism by a view of the glorious Stripes 
and Stars. Captains Burrows and Glover dined with 
us, and we drank " Our Country and its Birthday," the 
" Memory of Washington, Franklin and Lafayette," 
and " The Army and Navy of the United States." 

July 6. 

We took an early breakfast this morning and left 
Liverpool at half-past seven for Chester and Eaton Hall, 
the former, as is known, being one of the only two 
walled cities in England, and the latter the splendid 
mansion of the Marquis of Westminster (formerly Earl 
Grosvenor) who is one of the wealthiest Peers of the 



Letters from Europe. 51 

Realm. We crossed the Mersey to Birkenhead and 
there took the Railway to Chester, 16 miles. Chester 
is a place of much historical interest. That portion of 
it inclosed by the wall is hoary with age. Its ruins 
commemorate events and eras of great magnitude and 
antiquity. The city was occupied for a long time by 
the Roman invaders, of whom many memorials remain. 
Its principal business streets have covered porticoes, ele- 
vated several feet above the pave through which pedes- 
trians pass, and beneath which are shops level with the 
street. There is a canal running through the city, in 
some places excavated forty and even fifty feet through 
rock ; and the river Dee makes a fine sweep around two 
sides of the city. St. John's Church, supposed to have 
been erected by Ethelred, in 680, is a splendid, but 
fast crumbling ruin. What remains of its Tower, com- 
posed of red sandstone, dissolves into particles at the 
slightest touch. The Cathedral, a much more extensive 
structure, and more than ten centuries have passed since 
its erection, is in a far better state of preservation. The 
dust of unnumbered Nobles, Abbots, Monks, Priests, 
&c, repose in the tombs, the niches and the recesses, 
and beneath the entablatures of this magnificent edifice. 
Its choir displays a profusion of ancient carvings, per- 
fectly preserved. High above the choir is a spacious 
gallery on both sides, extending the whole way across 
the buildings, where the nuns are said to have sat ; and 
below is a wide hall, running through two extensive 
angles of the building, and in front of gloomy, dungeon- 
like cells, the Monks are said to have walked and 
lodged. The heads of the ancient Dignitaries of the 
church, more or less mutilated, appear, cut from stone, 



52 Thurlow Weed's 

upon the walls. The Sexton, with his " grave-diggers," 
was engaged in one of the Vaults, within the Abbey, 
from which two coffins had been taken. They looked 
so old that I inquired, after the manner of Hamlet, if 
he knew their history, and was informed that they were 
children who had not been buried more than twenty- 
eight or thirty years. He then showed us into the 
Vestry, the Chapter and the Library. This splendid 
building, though erected by those holding to a different 
doctrine, has long been, and is now, a Protestant Ca- 
thedral. 

Leaving the Cathedral, we ascended and walked 
about the city upon its wall. Adjoining it is the ruin 
of an ancient Abbey, in the tower of which, as a placard 
apprized us, is now a Museum and Panorama. Farther 
on, we came to an old battlement, connected with the 
wall, from the top of which King Charles the First 
stood and saw his army routed and destroyed upon 
Rowton Moor, in 1645. The. remains of the poet Par- 
nell, repose here in the cemetery of Trinity Church. 

Having seen the objects of the most striking interest 
in Chester, we started for Eaton Hall. The first demon- 
stration of the wealth and munificence of the Marquis 
of Westminster that attracts attention is a stone bridge 
over the River Dee, the Arch of which has a span of 
200 feet. Crossing this, we entered upon the broad, 
beautiful and highly cultivated grounds of this wealthy 
Nobleman. The Porter's Lodge, through which we 
entered, might easily enough have been mistaken for 
the residence of some gentleman of fortune. After 
driving a mile through the " Preserves " (woods), we 
came to extensive meadows in which large herds of 



Letters from Europe. 53 

cattle, of the best breeds, of course, were grazing. 
Then came the Park, in which Deer were seen in all 
directions. Several large droves of them were seen in 
the distance, and soon our carriage passed within a rod 
of some fifteen or twenty. You will be surprised when 
I tell you that the number of Deer in this park is over 
600. In the Preserves, Rabbits are " as thick as black- 
berries." Among the Deer were a large number of 
Fawns. 

We were driven into the spacious Carnage Yard, the 
various out-houses surrounding which constituted a 
small village. The " Hall " fronts upon an ample lawn 
which looks out through a long vista of surpassing 
beauty. The building- is of Gothic order, and has the 
appearance of being of modern construction. The Por- 
ter informed us that we Avere half an hour too early to 
see the " Hall." We repaired, therefore, to the Garden 
Gate, the bell to which was soon answered by the 
Gardener, who showed us through his enchanting do- 
minions. I will not weaken the effect of these changing, 
variegated, but ever bright and beautiful scenes, by any 
attempt to describe them. We may boast with just 
pride, of our own Moral achievements, but the only 
comparison I dare hazard must be based upon a com- 
bination of all that is rich and rare in the Gardens of 
Messrs. Buel, Wilson, Thorburn, Prentice, Page, the 
Patroon, &c, &c. But in Fruit, though every exer- 
tion is made to obtain the best, the comparison is as 
much, or more, in our favor. There is more good Fruit 
in Mr. Denniston's Garden, than is seen, or can be pro- 
duced in the Liverpool Market. The hot-houses of the 
Marquis of Westminster produce large and delicious 



54 Thurlow Weed's 

Peaches and Grapes, as, also, are the Pine Apples ; but 
their " wall fruit " is in all respects inferior to ours. 
The Garden occupies nearly or quite an hundred acres. 
In one of the arbors is an Altar, discovered in the ruins 
at Chester in 1821, where it had been left by the Ro- 
mans. Among the hot-house plants are several Ameri- 
can Aloes (century plants), one of which is expected to 
flower within four or five years. The hot-houses, 
through several of which, ten and fifteen rods long, we 
passed, stood at a temperature varying from 80 to 90, 
and were filled with plants, flowers and fruits. Among 
the latter were peaches of the largest size, and judging 
from the odor they imparted, of the most delicious char- 
acter. These, with the grapes, are picked as they ripen, 
and sent up to London, where the Family remain till 
August. 

I will attempt no farther description of Eaton Hall 
than to say that it is one of the magnificent mansions 
that the overgrown wealth of England has produced. 
We were seated for half an hour in the Entrance Hall, 
the floor of which is of richly variegated Marble, and in 
the niches are several effigy Knights, in the Armour 
worn by the Ancestors of the present Marquis. After 
showing a previous party through, the primly dressed 
Duenna, with much politeness and an apparent desire to 
communicate all that was of interest, walked us through 
apartments in which Knights, Barons, Lords and Mon- 
archs have reveled for centuries. The Hall running 
through the Mansion is hung with Family Portraits. 
In the Dining Room are full lengths of the Marquis and 
his Lady. In the Chapel is a scripture piece by Ru- 
bens, and in the Drawing Room are two scriptural paint- 



Letters from Europe. 55 

ings by our countryman, West. But we had no time 
to examine these treasures of the brush and pallette. 
There were a large number of enameled Portraits, 
upon glass, in the windows, which cost £600 each. 
The Doors connecting the different apartments cost each 
100 guineas. 

We returned by a different route for the purpose of 
seeing some of his Lordship's high-blooded horses, one 
of which (" Touchstone") is said to be the best horse in 
the world. An idea of his value may be formed from 
the fact that Lord Chesterfield offered, and the Mar- 
quis refused to take 4,500 guineas for him. The 
groom then showed us two of " Touchstone's Foals, 
"just taken off the Dams," that, though but five months 
old, would bring an hundred guineas. We dined at 
Chester, and returned in carriages by a different and 
far more interesting road, from which we diverged for 
the purpose of riding through the extensive estate of 
Sir William Stanley, who keeps fast horses and 
hounds, is a sportsman and gambler, and, of course, is 
deeply in debt. The day being fine, our ride back was 
exceedingly pleasant. For several miles we had a view 
of an extensive range of mountains in Wales. You 
would be most agreeably struck here with the perfec- 
tion of form and symmetry in English cattle. Instead 
of a mere sprinkling of the beautiful animals imported 
by the Patroon and Messrs. Prentice, Corning, Bement, 
&c, the pastures are filled with such only. Indeed, the 
inferior breeds of cattle are as entirely extinct here, as 
are the long leg and snout swine among good farmers 
in America. 

England, you know, is celebrated for the ingenuity 



56 Thurlow Weed's 

displayed in the designation of Inns. At and about 
Chester I saw " Pie'd Bull Inn," " The Black Earn Inn," 
" The Crow's Nest Inn," " The Elephant Arms Inn," 
&c, and over most of the Doors, three Kegs and a 
bunch of grapes are suspended. 

This being the Queen's birth clay, large pleasuring 
parties were enjoying country air and scenery. We 
left our carnages six miles from Liverpool, and, while 
waiting for the steamer, went into a grove where a party 
of joyous youths (Ladies and Gentlemen) were " danc- 
ing upon the green" to the music of a violin and 
clarionet. This was one of those gay pastoral scenes 
which constitute the poetry of life. 

We had heard much and experienced something of 
the rapacious character of English Servants, Coachmen, 
&c, &c, but the impudence of the fellows who drove 
us from Chester (10 miles) in one horse vehicles, is 
worthy of remark. We paid a pound ($5) for the ve- 
hicles, and then gave two shillings (or fifty cents) to 
each Driver, with which they were dissatisfied, and they 
continued to grumble after we gave each twenty -five 
cents in addition. 

Since this Letter was commenced, I am informed 
that Eaton Hall was rebuilt in 1813, at an expense of 
two millions sterling. The Marquis is 76 years old 
and of infirm health. He has much other property in 
and about London. 

We returned at half-past eight, where we were 
rejoined by our friends (Bishop Hughes, Father De 
Smet and Mr. Smets) whom we left in Dublin, and with 
whom we soon depart for London. 



Letters from Europe. 57 



VII. 

LIVERPOOL, July 7, 1843. 

Having passed four hours of two successive days at 
the Liverpool Collegiate Institution, viewing the won- 
ders of Mechanism, Painting, Sculpture and Science, 
displayed by the " Polytechnic Exhibition," I cannot 
resist the inclination to give you some idea of the mag- 
nitude of this extraordinary collection. It will, how- 
ever, be but a feeble outline of the most striking objects 
of interest. Anything like a description of them would 
fill volumes. 

The Liverpool Collegiate Institution is as large as 
the New York City Hall. Foiu- stories and forty -two 
rooms are occupied with the Polytechnic Exhibition, 
which continues during the Summer Vacation. The 
Exhibition, in character and design, is identical with the 
Fair of the American Institute. The latter shows what 
Young America is doing — the former what Old Eng- 
land has accomplished. 

Room No. 1 is devoted to Gas Apparatus, Patent 
Stoves, &c, in which we are not far behind John Bull. 
No. 2 exhibits Cooking Apparatus and Agricultural 
Implements, where we also can boast of our Exhi- 
bitions. No. 3, with decorative Gilding, was no better 
than ours. In No. 4 were numerous and beautiful 
Models of Ships, Steamers, &c, but here, too, we are 
their equals. No. 5, with Models of Railways, and No. 



58 Thurlow "Weed's 

6, for Book-binding, show nothing that we cannot do as 
well. No. 7, Paisley Shawl Room, exhibited specimens 
of ingenuity and industry that ought to secure its citi- 
zens against starvation. No. 8 exhibited more Nautical 
Models ; No. 9, Potter's Ware ; No. 10, Mechanical 
Model of Hobart Town ; No. 11, Refreshment Room ; 
No. 12, Fountain and Plants, both of which were very 
beautiful. No. 13 is the Room where the Collegiate 
Board meets. It contains many full length Portraits of 
Kings, Noblemen and celebrated men, by the best 
Artists, among which you see George III and IV, 
George Canning, Lord Stanley, Mr. Huskinson, Napo- 
leon, Duke of Clarence, Duke of Wellington, Duke 
of York, Mr. Gladstone, &c, &c, by Sir Thomas 
Lawrence, Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bradley, and other 
eminent Painters. No. 14 exhibits 46 recent improve- 
ments in Machinery, all of which were in motion by 
Steam. No. 15 displayed the recently invented Machine 
for setting and distributing Type, which I both believe 
and hope will prove a failure, for I cannot endure the 
thought of seeing the " Art preservative of all Arts," to 
which the world is indebted for a Franklin, degene- 
rate into mere mechanism. Let us preserve what there 
is left of the intellectuality of Printing. No. 16 con- 
tains improvements in Electricity, Galvanism, Weights 
and Measures No. 17, Hearth-Rug and Carpet Rooms. 
No. 18, Stocking Weaver's Looms. No. 19, Fringe 
Looms. 

Room No. 20 contains the Rev. Dr. Raffle's extensive 
and most precious collection of Autographs and Man- 
uscripts, and here I lingered with a devotion not unworthy 
of our Reverend and excellent Dr. Spragije, for hours, 



Letters from Europe. 59 

and then was forced to go away unsatisfied. I must give 
you some idea of the magnitude and value of these 
treasures — treasures, too, that like the Sybilline leaves, 
increase in value as they diminish in number. Of the 
Kings and Eoyal Family of England, there are original 
signatures or Letters of fifty-one different individuals. 
Of the Kings, &c, of France, thirteen original Signatures 
or Letters. Of the miscellaneous Autographs and Letters 
(amounting in number to 161) from illustrious Gen- 
erals, Philosophers, Philanthropists, Statesmen, Poets, 
Painters, Authors, &c, &c, &c, I will give you a speci- 
men. " A Letter from Richard Baxter," addressed to 
all that fear God in the borough and parish of Kin- 
derminster, dated Tatteridge, near Burnett, Feb. 10. 
There are Letters from Theodore Beza, the Reformer ; 
from the Regicide Bradshaw ; the autograph of John 
Bunyan ; Notes of Mr. Burke's Speech on the Impeach- 
ment of Warren Hastings ; a receipt of Calvin, the 
Reformer, for his salary as a Minister at Geneva, dated 
1551; Letter of Canova to Sir Thomas Lawrence; 
Letter of Lord Chatham ; Letter from William Cow- 
per ; the Signature of the Martyr Cranmer, to a docu- 
ment dated Aug. 9, 1547 ; a Letter of the Earl of 
Derby, dated " Knowlesby, my home this iiii of Auguste, 
1586" ; a Letter of Charles James Fox ; a Letter from 
Benjamin Franklin ; the original Manuscript of Bishop 
Heber's " From Greenland's Icy Mountains" ; a Letter 
from the Author of " Hervey's Meditations" ; a Letter 
of Dr. Johnson to Miss Porter, his relative, of Litch- 
field ; a Letter of La Fayette ; Signature of the Earl 
of Leicester, Queen Elizabeth's favorite ; Note of Lord 
Mansfield ; a Letter from the Duke of Marlborough, 



60 Thurlow "Weed's 

dated "Hague, Sept, 3, 1701"; a Greek Letter from 
Melancthon ; a Letter from Sir John Moore ; a Letter 
of Lord Nelson, dated on board the Victory, July 1, 
1805 ; Autograph of Sir Isaac Newton ; a Letter of 
William Penn ; a Letter of Pope ; a Letter of Richard 
Rarkes, the founder of Sunday Schools ; the Manu- 
script of the 1st chapter of the 3d volume (English 
edition) of Sir Walter Scott's Kennilworth ; a Letter 
of Mrs. Siddons ; a Note from Laurence Sterne ; the 
last Letter but one written by John Wesley ; a Letter 
of Zimmerman ; an ancient Deed executed by Queen 
Anne ; the Manuscript of Burns' " Elegy on the late 
Miss Burnet of Monboddo," &c, &c, &c. 

Room No. 21 was devoted to Antiquities, curiosities, 
&c, which amounted in number to more than seven 
hundred, and in character were rare, unique and inter- 
esting. Days might be passed delightfully in this room, 
but I was forced to limit my examinations to an hour. 
These treasures were contributed for the Exhibition only, 
by distinguished Antiquarians in different parts of the 
Kingdom. I will designate a few of them. A needle- 
work Cap worn by Queen Elizabeth ; among the 
walking sticks which attracted notice was one cut from 
the Ruin of Palenque, and another at the Falls of 
Niagara ; one of Cromwell's basket-hilted Swords ; 
two Affghanistan Swords ; a Polish Pistol of 1662, and 
a Hungarian Portal of 1460 ; a fragment of the ship- 
plank upon which Lord Nelson fell mortally wounded ; 
ancient Stone Hatchet found in a ruin at Arniagh, in 
Ireland ; an ancient Roman Brass Mortar, full of Roman 
Coins, dug up in Salisbury Plain; a cast of Hannah 
More ; the Cap, Gloves and Shoes worn by Lord Byron 



Letters from Europe. 61 

at Missilonghi; a Snuff Box with a Carneo of Napo- 
leon, Maria Louisa and the King of Rome ; a Crucifix 
made from a bone of Martin Luther ; History of the 
World by Sir Walter Raleigh ; a fac-simile of Wash- 
ington's Revolutionary Accounts ; a Shakspeare Cup 
very elegantly carved from a Mulberry Tree planted by 
the Bard himself, with a Medallion of the Poet, and 
these words by Garrick : 

"Behold this fair goblet — 'twas carved from the tree, 
" Which, my sweet Shakspeare was planted by thee. 
" As a relic I kiss it, and bow at the shrine, 
" What comes from thy hand must be ever divine." 

In Room 22 there is Lithograph and Copperplate 
Printing; No. 23 is devoted to Philosophical Apparatus, 
Class Cutlery, Blowing, &c. ; No. 24 is the Chinese 
Room, of the nature and interest of which those who 
saw the Chinese curiosities exhibited at Philadelphia 
can form an opinion. 

In Room No. 25 is what the proprietor has veiy 
appropriately called " The Happy Family." It is a 
large cage, in which a Family of upwards of one hun- 
dred in number, made up of cats, rats, hawks, star- 
lings, owls, doves, monkeys, mice, squirrels, porcupines, 
rabbits, &c, &c, dwell together in perfect amity, and 
manifest for each other much and mutual affection. 
When I went in a large grimalkin was asleep, and four 
huge rats lay reposing upon her back, while her kittens 
and two young rats were at their gambols about the old 
folks ! An owl was feeding a starling with fresh meat. 
These animals are very playful, and the birds are 
musical. It is an assimilation of hostile natures which 
fulfills much scripture. This room attracts and delights 
all visitors. A friend who went there with me is in 



62 Thurlow Weed's 

treaty with the Proprietor of the " Happy Family," arid 
is not unlikely to tempt him across the Atlantic. 

Room No. 26 exhibits Mercantile and Mechanical 
specimens in great varieties ; No. 27, specimens of Iron 
manufactures ; No. 28, illustrations of the History of 
Liverpool; No. 29, Natural History — some 500 speci- 
mens ; No. 30, a Gothic Hall ; No. 31, articles of Taste 
and Vertu ; No. 32, Sculpture Gallery ; No. 33, Archi- 
tectural Drawings and Models ; No. 34, Anatomical 
Models and Preparations. 

Rooms from No. 34 to No. 42, inclusive, were devoted 
to Paintings, Engravings and Prints. Here, too, where 
days might be passed pleasantly, we had but hours. 
The principal Gallery contains 213 Paintings by British 
Artists, and 207 by Foreign Artists. The whole num- 
ber of Paintings in the exhibition exceeds 600. Of 
their value some estimate may be formed when their 
character is known. I will name a few which, in pass- 
ing, arrest and rivet the attention. A Portrait of 
Canova, by Sir Thomas Lawrence ; Portrait of Samuel 
Foote, by Sir Joshua Reynolds ; Portrait of Lord 
Hood, by the same Artist ; Village Girl, by Bradley ; 
Stopping the Supplies, by Thomas Webster; Caleb 
Balderstone, from the Bride of Lammermoor, by 
Bishop ; Christ's entry into Jerusalem, by Aglio ; Por- 
trait of Hogarth, by himself; the Bride of Lammer- 
moor, by Lander; Portrait of Mrs. Montague, by Sir 
Joshua Reynolds ; (she had flowing fiery-red hair, 
with sharp features and flashing eyes.) The Passions, 
a glowing Picture, by an unknown Artist ; the Deserter, 
by George Morland ; John Gilpin (a glorious pic- 
ture), by Witherington ; Don Quixote, in his study 



Letters from Europe. 63 

(an exaggeration), by Hanell ; the Marys at the Sepul- 
chre, by Townsend ; a Seaport, by Claude Lorraine ; 
Holy Family, by P. Paul Rubens ; Departure of Jacob, 
by Rembrandt ; Woman anointing the feet of the 
Savior, by Paul Veronese ; Woman taken in Adultery, 
by Titian ; Dead Christ with Saints, by Vandyke ; 
Dutch Fair, by Tenders ; Love Crowning Science, by 
Guido ; Jason and Medea, by Salvator Rosa ; Con- 
version of Saul, by Rubens ; Head of Cicero, after 
death, by Carlo Dolci ; Rembrandt's Daughter, by 
Rembrandt ; Howard relieving a distressed Family, by 
Wheatley ; Portrait of Handel, by Hogarth ; Rem- 
brandt's magnificent picture of " Belshazzar's Feast," 
contributed for the exhibition by the Eaid of Derby. 
There were many pictures by old masters which I have 
not mentioned, and which, though esteemed as among 
the finest efforts of genius, I could not appreciate ; and 
indeed, to my rude taste and defective judgment, there 
were many of the productions of comparatively unknown 
Artists, far superior, in all respects, to some by Artists 
whose names impart value and stamp fame upon their 
works. But I must leave the Polytechnic Exhibition, 

In a former Letter I spoke of Liverpool as having 
been extensively and profitably engaged in the Slave 
Trade. I have since ascertained that its sins, in this 
respect, were of the deepest and darkest hue. An 
extensive block of stores on the quay, erected by Mer- 
chants engaged in the Slave Trade, took the name of 
the " Goree Piazza," which they still retain. George 
Frederick Cooke, the great Tragedian, who came on 
the stage here in 1779, to play Richard the Third, after 
having knelt too devoutly at the shrine of Bacchus, was 



64 Thuelow "Weed's 

loudly hissed, but after resolute efforts to hiss and pelt 
hirn off, finally obtained a hearing, and addressed the 
audience as follows : — 

" It is hard enough to submit to the degradation of 
such a profession as that in which I appear, but it is the 
lowest depth of disgrace to play the buffoon for the 
amusement of a set of wretches, every stone of whose 
streets, every brick of whose houses, every block of 
whose docks, is grouted and cemented by the blood and 
marrow of the stolen and murdered African." 

It is added that the indignant and withering rebuke 
of a drunken play-actor was more effective, in arousing 
the shame or stinging the conscience of the Liverpool 
African Merchants, than the appeals of Claekson or 

WlLBEEFOECE. 

This rebuke of the African Merchants of Liverpool 
reminds me of an incident that occurred at Mr. O'Con- 
nell's, in Dublin. While in the Library waiting for 
Mr. O'C, we were struck with two links of an ugly- 
looking iron chain and broken manacle which hung in 
the room, and after some speculation about the proba- 
bility of its having been used by the Government to 
enslave or oppress some of the Patriots of 1798, Mr. 
O'C. entered, and before we left, Bishop Hughes 
remarked to him that we were curious to know the his- 
tory of that broken chain. " That chain," replied Mr. 
O'C, " reveals a sad history of cruelty to a stolen 
negro, from whose leg it was taken. I fear America is 
implicated, but of this I am not sure" — here he was 
interrupted by a committee, and we lost the remainder 
of his story. 

Strangers are struck with the herculean strength of 



Letters from Europe. 65 

the Liverpool Dray Horses, than which the world does 
not produce finer animals. The Drays to which they 
are attached weigh a ton. I scarcely dare tell how 
enormously they load these Drays, lest the statement 
should be discredited. We saw one to which two horses 
were attached, drawing five hogsheads of sugar up a 
street of an elevation equal to that of State street oppo- 
site the Evening Journal Office. And this seemed but 
a moderate load. 

We had some amusement but not much difficulty at 
the Custom House, where those of us who had landed 
in Ireland found our trunks, &c. The officers were 
very courteous to me, and though I had a package of 
sealed letters that ought to have gone into the mail, and 
a few contraband Periodicals, they allowed them to 
pass. Father De Smet, avIio has a Trunk full of Indian 
Wardrobes, War implements, Medicine bags, &c, was 
let through for a trifle ; but Bishop Hughes, for whom 
a friend had put up two small bottles of Snuff (about a 
pound), had to pay a duty of eighteen shillings, or four 
dollars. " You must do this, sir," said the officer, " in 

honor of the Queen " " for which I should like to 

give her Majesty & pinch" replied the Bishop. If the 
snuff is as good as the pun, I should not object to pay 
the duty on it. Adieu. 

9 



66 Thuelow "Weed's 



VIII. 

LONDON, July 8, 1843 — 7 p. m. 

This is London ! And here I am in the World's great, 
busy, bustling Babel ! And though it is less than an 
hour since the "Bus" dropped us at "mine Inn," I 
have already threaded Fleet street and Cheapside, 
walked up Ludgate Hill, round St. Paul's, and stood 
upon Blackfriar's Bridge, viewing the river Thames, 
with all the wonder and admiration that had been 
excited by Nursery Tales, Travellers and Books, for 
nearly forty years. With this foretaste of objects which 
I already feel will awaken much enthusiasm, I returned 
to my lodgings content to look at other lions more 
leisurely. In the meantime let me glance back upon 
our " presto-be-gone " jaunt from Liverpool, which place 
we left at a quarter past 8 o'clock this morning. 

Our party (six in number) filled one apartment. The 
Cars, in the form of Coaches, are very commodious. 
Each passenger (first class) has cushions to rest his 
arms and incline his head upon. The first mile and a 
quarter is through a Tunnel, upon which the city reposes. 
Emerging from this we pass rapidly through the highly 
cultivated suburbs of Liverpool, to which succeeds an 
Agricultural country in a like state of cultivation. The 
objects which attract attention at a distance indicate, by 
high spiral chimneys emitting dense columns of black 
smoke, the numerous manufacturing establishments with 



Letters from Europe. 67 

which England abounds. Meadow and Pasture and 
Lawn and Grove, all described b y hedges and clothed 
in verdure, were passed so rapidly that we seemed to 
be constantly viewing the same objects. Everything 
was beautiful — nothing bold — everything charmed — 
nothing startled. There were gurgling brooks and 
limpid streams — but no mountain torrents or dashing 
rivers. There were cherished Groves and much valued 
Preserves — but no tall Pines, spreading Elms, graceful 
Maples or stalwart Oaks to relieve and diversify these 
otherwise delightful views. In truth, after luxuriating 
for a time upon all that can be done to adorn and varie- 
gate a rural and even surface, the eye wearies for some 
of the bolder beauties along our magnificent Hudson 
and in the valley of the picturesque Mohawk. 

We passed, on our way, through the towns of Wol- 
verton, Crew, Harrow, Brandon, Rugby, Weeden, Staf- 
ford, Wolverhamton, Tring, Boxmoor, Blisworth, Wat- 
ford, Leighton, &c, &c, making very brief stops at a 
few of them. The Railway is admirably managed, as 
everything can be, where there is no stint of expendi- 
ture. The agents and servants of the company are in 
livery, and move with military precision. Clocks are 
exposed at each station, by which the arrivals and de- 
partures of the Trains are regulated to a second. We 
were allowed thirty minutes for Dinner at Birming- 
ham, the great manufacturing town of England, of 
which I shall only remark now (intending to have a 
day there), that it has the appearance of an enormous 
Smoke-House. Coventry, through which place I believe 
Sir John Falstaff refused to " march his ragamuffins," 
is a delightful town. I can imagine many worse things 



68 Thurlow Weed's 

than being "put into Coventry." We passed it too 
rapidly to get a look at " Peeping Tom." 

Smoking is strictly prohibited in the cars, but the pen- 
alty (forty shillings) does not attach unless the offend- 
er " persists in smoking after he has been apprised 
of the regulations." After Dinner, having segars and 
matches with us, we fired up, and as nobody comes 
near Passengers between the stations, we enjoyed our 
Havanas, the luxury of which was not diminished by 
the circumstance that we were sinning in a small way. 

The duty on Tobacco in England and France is 
enormous. I was startled to learn, what every Ameri- 
can ought to know, that England derives an annual 
revenue of about fifteen millions, and France a still 
larger sum, from duties upon Tobacco ! And this is 
purely a duty for revenue. In urging their Free Trade 
doctrine upon Congress, if our Southern brethren would 
only insist upon reciprocal Free Trade, the increased 
demand for Tobacco, with the increased value of the 
article to the producer, would bring prosperity and 
wealth to the Tobacco producing States. 

Our approach to London, by the Railway, was not 
indicated either by suburbs dotted with mansions of the 
gentry, nor by clusters of neat cottages, nor by the dil- 
apidated and windowless abodes of the wretched and 
vicious. We came from a rich Agricultural country 
plump into London. Each one of our party had been 
recommended by friends to particular Hotels, but at the 
suggestion of a fellow-passenger, who had been much 
in London, we determined to try "Radley's Family 
Hotel, New Bridge st. City," to which place we were 



Letters from Europe. 69 

taken by an Omnibus, without experiencing either delay 
or confusion in obtaining our luggage. 

The distance from Liverpool to London by Railway, 
is about 200 miles, which we accomplished in ten 
hours. 

Sunday, July 9. 

Immediately after breakfast this morning I took a 
position on Blackfriar's Bridge, which is central as 
between the Seven Bridges across the Thames, within 
the boundaries of London. The River seemed alive 
with small Iron Steamers, resembling barges, with no 
external show of machinery (carrying from one to two 
hundred people) and filled with tradesmen and shop- 
keepers of both sexes, making water excursions out of 
London. The morning was pleasant, and you cannot 
imagine a more interesting view than was presented by 
these steamers, gliding like " things of life " up and 
down the river, stopping every few rods to receive or 
drop Passengers. The names of these steamers are as 
romantic as their appearance and models are beautiful. 
I made a memorandum of the following that passed in 
less than half an hour : "Primrose," "Bride," "Pink," 
" Tulip," " Snow Drop," " Bridemaid," " Lilly," "Sweet- 
brier," " Rose," with others like the " Falcon," " Naiad," 
"Victoria," &c. 

At half past 10 o'clock I went to St. Paul's Church, 
into the Gallery of which we were ushered by a sort of 
beadle with a black gown and staff. A clergyman was 
drawling out the impressive and solemn morning ser- 
vice of the Church of England, in a manner and tone 
so cold and unimpassioned that it would have thrown 
an American congregation into an ague fit. And the 



70 Thurlow Weed's 

effective and devotional chaimts were executed by two 
lazy choristers and nine boys, in surplices, without ani- 
mation, harmony or melody. The sermon of twenty 
minutes was as inanimate and as vapid and as empty as 
imbecility and sloth could make it. The Clergy, the 
Choir and the Beadles, seemed delighted when their 
" drudgery" was over, and in this feeling the congrega- 
tion evidently participated. Everything, as L , who 

was with me, remarked, "was as cold as an Iceberg." 
But the organ should be excepted from this reproach, 
for in its deep-toned notes there was something to 
remind one that he was in a Christian Church. 

Every body has read about St. Paul's Cathedral. My 
account of it, therefore, shall be brief, and designed only 
to refresh your recollection, It is second only to St 
Peter's, at Rome, in magnitude. It was thirty-five years 
in building, and cost $7,500,000. It covers over two 
square acres, and the walk round it is as far as a walk 
round the Capitol and Park. Among the Monuments 
and Statues erected in the Rotunda of the Church, are 
those in honor of its Architect, Sir Christopher Wren, 
Dr. Johnson, Howard, the Philanthropist, Sir Joshua 
Reynolds, Lord Nelson, the Marquis Cornwallis, Lord 
Collingwood, Cauls, Packenham and Gtibbs (who fell 
at New Orleans), Sir Ralph Abercrombie, and others I 
could not approach. 

In the Crypt, repose the remains of many distin- 
guished men, among which are the ashes of Reynolds, 
Barry, Opie and West, all eminent Painters ; Lord 
Nelson, Sir C. Wren, Thomas Newton, &c. &c* It 

* The remains of the Duke of Wellington have been since added to the sacred 
treasures of the Crypt. 



Letters from Europe. 71 

costs, in gratuities to the guides, 4s and 4d to get admit- 
ted to the different parts of St. Paul's. 

In the afternoon I made an omnibus excursion to 
Islington, once a village near London, on the Surry 
side of the Thames — but now a part of the city. Toward 
evening I took an omnibus for Hyde Park (three miles) 
and saw the mansion of the Duke of Wellington and 
Buckingham Palace, where the Queen resides during 
the session of Parliament. 

Monday, July 10. 

We called this morning at Baring & Brothers, in 
Bishopgate street, where I found Letters from Home — 
and good, long, precious Letters they were too. It is 
a luxury, in this wilderness of Houses and People, where 
one's individuality is merged, to commune with those 
we love in our own — our native land. The morning 
was devoted to the reading of Letters from my Family 
and from S , B , and K , to which some num- 
bers of the Evening Journal, added a not unpalatable 
dessert. 

I next made my way to Grosvenor Place, and deliv- 
ered my Letters to Mr. Everett, who, though some- 
what engaged, gave me half an hour's audience, and 
asked me to bring my friends there on Sunday evening, 
where the Americans in London generally called in that 
evening. As the Irish Arms bill was to be discussed 
this evening, I was anxious to get into the House of 
Commons, but Mr. E. had exhausted his power of admit- 
tance for that day, and as I had not delivered my Let- 
ters to Members of Parliament, I had to give it up. 
The accommodations for persons in the House of Com- 
mons are very limited. Not more than sixty or seventy, 



72 Thurlow Weed's 

I am told, are admitted to the " Strangers' Gallery " and 
a still smaller number to the " Speaker's Gallery.'' 

Mr. Everett had heard of my visit to Ireland, and 
inquired with much interest as to the tone and temper 
of the people, and the objects of these tremendous meet- 
ings. It is evident from what Mr. E. said, and from 
what I hear elsewhere, that the Ministry is much embar- 
rassed with the Irish question, and that an outbreak is 
apprehended. But in this they will be disappointed. 
The People of Ireland will violate no laws. They will 
give their oppressors no advantage. They are, it is true, 
in a course of important moral and political — perhaps 
I may say physical — instruction, which has reference 
to an emergency that may occur. But they are too well 
informed, and too wisely guided, to think of precipitating 
events. Mr. O'Connell was understood by the tens of , 
thousands that heard him say that " one live Repealer 
is worth a hundred dead ones." And yet, of the im- 
mense multitudes who rally to the Repeal Meetings, 
there are none that would not joyfully peril then* lives, 
in any form of danger, if in that way Ireland could be 
redeemed. 

I dined yesterday, as Col. Benton rolls balls. " soli- 
tary and alone," at the " European Coffee Rooms," 
opposite the Bank of England, where Merchants and 
Bankers lunch. The " Bill of Fare," of which the fol- 
lowing is a copy, will show, perhaps as well as can be 
shown, what Dinners cost here. The prices opposite 
each ai*ticle, are of course, for one person. To get at the 
amount, in our currency, the items are to be doubled : 



Letters from Europe. 



73 



soups. s. d. 

Multigatawny, 1 3 

Mock Turtle 10 

Ox Tail, . . 10 

Vermicelli, 8 

Gravy, 8 

Mutton Broth, 6 

Turtle, 2 6 

HOT JOINTS. 

Roast Beef, 1 

Ditto Veal, 1 

Ditto, with Ham, 1 3 

Boiled Beef, 1 

Roast Lamb and Mint Sauce, . 1 6 

TO DRESS. 

Lamb Cutlet, 10 

Lamb Chop 8 

Mutton Chop, 6 

Maintenon Cutlet, 8 

Rump Steak, 1 3 

Veal Cutlet and Ham, 1 6 

Rump Steak and Oyster Sauce, 1 9 

Broiled Kidney, 3 

VEGETABLES. 

Cauliflower, 4 

New Potatoes, 3 

Potatoes, 2 

Peas 6 

Summer Cabbage, 2 

Currants, 2 

Horseradish, 2 

Salad, 6 

Cucumbers, 6 

Radishes, 2 



fish. s. d. 

Salmon, boiled or fried 1 6 

Salmon and Shrimp Sauce, ... 1 6 

Fried Sole, 1 3 

Boiled, 1 3 

Mackerel, boiled or fried 1 3 

Cod and Oyster Sauce, 1 G 

POULTRY. 

Roast Turkey and Sausage, . . 19 

Roast Fowl, 1 6 

Broiled Fowl and Oyster Sauce 2 

Roast Duck 1 9 

Cold Roast Fowl, 1 9 

Cold Roast Duck, 1 9 

SAUCES. 

Apple 3 

Tomato, 3 

Cucumber, 3 

VARIETIES. 

Poached Eggs, 1 

Dish of Ham, 1 

Omelette, sweet, &c, 1 

Anchovy Toast, 1 

PASTRY. 

Currant and Cherry Pudding, 6 

Gooseberry Tart, 6 

Plum or Cabinet Pudding, ... . 9 

Currant and Cherry Tart, .... 6 

Rice and Jam, 6 

CHEESE. 

Stilton, 2 

Cheshire, 1 



The bill adds a list of " Porters," " Stouts," " Ales," 
&c, &c, in Quarts, Pints, or on Draught. The Bread, 
I believe, is furnished without charge. Butter is not in 
the Bill of Fare, and is seldom used here at Dinner. 
The Salmon, Beef and Mutton are excellent. The Poul- 
try is inferior to ours, and their Pastry, as far as I have 
tasted, is bad. It is not at all difficult, at a " Cheap 
House," like this, to let your dinner cost $1.50. Mine 
to-day, which was intended to have been a moderate 
one, cost a dollar. 

Everything is dear in England. Those who are able 
10 



74 Thuelow Weed's 

to purchase, are made to pay roundly. Letter paper, 
for example, inferior to ours, costs two shillings (50 
cents) a quire. The retail store (they are called " shops " 
here) windows are filled with articles with the prices 
marked upon them, but when the s's and d's are turned 
into dollars and cents, it is seen that most of the articles 
may be purchased in America quite as low. 

Tuesday, July 11. 

We have been to-day at Madame Toussard's Wax 
work Exhibition in Portman Square, where two hours 
were passed with interest and instruction. These figures 
are the perfection of that species of Art. The likenesses 
are striking and natural. There is an absence of all 
that is tawdry or farcical. The audience was highly 
intellectual. The carriages of several Noblemen were 
in waiting, but the personages who came in them could 
not be distinguished from commoners. The collection 
embraces nearly all the crowned heads and distin- 
guished men in Europe. Those of our party who had 
seen several of the originals, speak of the " counterfeit 
presentments " as wonderfully like. That of Mr. O'Con- 
nell, the only person in the group I have seen, was 
excellent. To several of the Female figures, especially 
those of the Queen, and Madam Malibean, the language 
of Shakspeare, it is said, may be applied : 

"The very life seems warm upon her lip, 
The fixture of her eye has moisture in it." 

There is also a frightful collection of the most truth- 
ful likenesses of Monsters, in murders and assassinations, 
including Robespierre, Marat, Burke, Hare, &c. 

There are, also, most valuable memorials and relics 
of Napoleon, the identity of which is perfectly estab- 



Letters from Europe. 75 

lished. We got into the Traveling Carriage, and were 
shown the various compartments in which he carried 
his Books, Maps, Pistols, Money, &c. &c. We saw the 
bed in which the Emperor slept seven years at St. 
Helena, with several articles of his Dress, Furniture, 
&c. In the Carriage we saw, it will be recollected, the 
Emperor wrote despatches, took his meals, and slept. 
But I will not tax your patience further to-day. 



76 Thurlow "Weed's 



IX. 

LONDON, Jitly 12, 1843. 

The modes of conveyance in and about London, are 
by Omnibuses, Hacks and Cabs, or, if by water, Iron 
Steamers and Wherries. Omnibuses, which crowd the 
principal avenues here, as they do Broadway, in New 
York, were only introduced in 1830. They take you 
to any part of the city (in their route), for sixpence 
sterling. In Cabs, whether for one, two or three per- 
sons, you pay a shilling a mile, and sixpence for an 
additional mile, or two shillings if by the hour. Every- 
thing is taxed here. A Hackney Coach pays a duty 
of ten shillings per week. Each wheel and spring of 
every vehicle is taxed. In the country the coachman 
is compelled to show his license (to Post) to the Gate 
(or " Pike," as Sam Weller calls them) Keepers. 
There are over 2,000 Hacks, and over 900 Omnibuses 
for London and its environs. The latter, it is computed, 
carry over 70,000 passengers daily. 

The first vessel propelled on the Thames by steam, 
was brought from Glasgow in 1815, eight years after 
our Hudson River was thus navigated. The steamboat 
fare to Woolwich, Greenwich, Margate, Ramsgate, 
Gravesend, &c, &c, is reasonable, and these excursions 
are exceedingly pleasant to a stranger. 

I walked through Paternoster Row, among the Book- 
sellers, to-day, and into the London House of Wiley & 
Putnam, who you know are leading Booksellers and 



Letters from Europe. 77 

Publishers in New York, and to whom I had a Letter 
from my friends the Harpers. These gentlemen are 
doing much to enforce a knowledge of American Books 
upon the British public. But they find many dis- 
couragements. With the exceptions that exist among 
enlightened men of liberal minds, the great mass of 
Englishmen look upon us as a People scarcely able to 
read and comprehend, and much less qualified to write 
or think. And yet, in looking upon themselves and 
running over the " American Book Circular," which 
these gentlemen have pushed all over Europe, I was 
proud of the Literary wealth of my country, and of the 
array of names we present, that even British supremacy 
in Letters and Science, does not cast into the shade. 

Mr. Alison, in his History of Europe, takes occasion 
to show how much better qualified he is to speak of 
Europe than of America, by the remark that while the 
" American soil is not wanting in genius, European habits 
and ideas are necessary to their due development." This 
conclusion is drawn from the circumstance that Wash- 
ington Irving, Dr. Channel, &c, have published then- 
works in England. This assumption, however, is de- 
stroyed by the fact that these writers produced then- 
best works before they crossed the Atlantic ; and if 
further proof is wanting, we have it in the conclusive 
circumstance that some of our " ripest and rarest schol- 
ars" have not even yet had their "habits and ideas 
developed " by a visit to England. But I refer to this, 
more for the purpose of saying that Messrs. Wiley & 
Putnam, in then- Preface to the Circular, have rendered 
American Literature good service, by Notes and Statis- 
tics which, while they correct the errors into which Mr. 



78 Thuelow Weed's 

Alison may have fallen unintentionally, expose the 
falsehoods and rebuke the insolence of British Review- 
ers and Travelers. 

To the charge that " intellectual ability of the highest 
order meets with no encouragement in America," the Cir- 
cular opposes the fact that nine Editions of Prescott's 
"Ferdinand and Isabella," and that 12,000 copies of 
Stephens' " Central America," both very expensive 
works, have recently been sold in America. The posi- 
tion is further fortified by strong facts, not the least of 
which is that while our own Books sell, large and 
expensive Editions of all valuable European Books are 
published and sold in America. The Circular affirms, 
too, upon good English authority, that the Lexicons, by 
Robinson, the Text-book editions of Horace, by An- 
thon, the contribution to Spanish History, by Peescott, 
Medical Jurisprudence, by our respected townsman, Dr. 
T. Romeyn Beck, and even a Dictionary of the English 
Language, by Noah Webstee (!) are the best works, in 
their several departments, existing in the language ! 

The Circular exposes some very discreditable English 
piracies upon American Literature, and inquires who, 
in looking over the titles of London Publications, would 
suppose that " Quebec and New York, or the three 
Beauties," was the same as " Burton, or the Sieges ; " 
that " The last days of Aurelian " is nothing less or 
more than Mr. "Ware's " Probus, or Rome in the Third 
Century ; " or " Montaine," only a new title for "A new 
Home ; " and that Sparks' " Life of Ledyard, the Ameri- 
can Traveler," appears here as " Memoirs of Ledyard, 
the African Traveler ; " " Judge Story's Law and Bail- 
ments," is cut into fragments by Theobald and appended 



Letters from Europe. 79 

to his Notes on Sir William Johnson ; and finally, that 
a Volume of " Charcoal Sketches," written by Joseph 
C. Neal, of Philadelphia, appear here entire, bound up 
without credit, in the " Pickwick Papers," edited by 
Charles Dickens ! 

Apropos of Dickens, I was about to call on " Boz " 
the day after my arrival in London, with a friend who 
is well acquainted with him, but delayed the call at the 
suggestion of Bishop Hughes, who said from the strange 
questions asked him about America, based upon Dick- 
ens' character of us, he would advise me to read the 
last number of "Martin Chuzzlewit " before I made my 
call. Having read that number, it is scarcely necessary 
to say that the call was indefinitely postponed. Was 
ever such malice or ribaldry perpetrated 1 Dickens 
has actually out-Trolloped Fidler and Hall. His cari- 
cature of New York is even coarser than that of another 
man of Romance, who, after enjoying the refinements 
of Europe, sought and " Found " his " Home," sadly 
out of temper. And all this tirade, the grossness of 
which is only equaled by its stupidity, blurted forth 
because the American Congress did not think proper to 
pass an international law of copyright for an Author 
who, with idiotic arrogance, made the mercenary object 
of his visit the principal topic of a speech delivered at 
1 Boston immediately after his arrival. 

But let me get back to Wiley & Putnam's " Ameri- 
can Book Circular," where I find "metal more attrac- 
tive." Let it be remembered that the sale of American 
books in England encounters many obstacles other 
than those I have referred to, among which are large 
discounts to Booksellers, heavy duties, and enormous 



80 Thurlow Weed's 

sums paid for Advertising. Only few Books are pur- 
chased by individuals. It is not here as with us, that 
every Family has its Library, small or large, according 
to its means and tastes. Books are generally purchased 
for Circulating Libraries. 

The " Circular " contains a more formidable catalogue 
of American Publications by American Authors, than I 
had before met with, and there is neither extravagance 
nor egotism in saying, that it presents a galaxy of 
names which any Country or Age might claim with 
pride and gratitude. I will name a few of the works 
that are now sold in London, and may be found in well 
selected English Libraries. The letters of John Ad- 
ams addressed to his Wife; American Annual Kegister; 
Sparks' American Biography, in 10 vols.; Bancroft's 
History of the United States ; the Works of Benjamin 
Franklin, in 10 vols., at 8/; Memoirs of Franklin, writ- 
ten by himself ; Memoirs of Robert Fulton ; Goodrich's 
Universal Geography; Life of Patrick Henry; Hol- 
gate's Atlas of American History ; Washington Irving's 
Works ; Life and Writings of John Jay ; The Madison 
Papers; Marshall's Life of Washington; Timothy Pit- 
kin's Statistical View of the Commerce of the United 
States; Prescott's Ferdinand and Isabella, which the 
Edinburgh Review says " is one of the most successful 
historical productions of our time;" Histories of Yale 
College and Harvard University, the first by Baldwin 
{our Baldwin), and the latter by Josiah Quincy; Ren- 
wick's Life of De Witt Clinton; Sparks' Life of Led- 
yard; Col. Stone's Life of Brandt; Life of Red Jacket, 
by the same Author ; Life of Peter Van Schaack ; The 
Discoveries and Addresses of Gulian C. Verplanck, 



Letters from Europe. 81 

upon American Arts and Antiquities; Writings of 
George Washington, edited by Sparks, 12 vols., for 101; 
Speeches and Forensic Arguments of Daniel Webster; 
Wirt's Spy Letters; Catlin's Notes and Letters on the 
North American Indians; De Kay's rr,,i ' , key; Dewey's 
Old and New World; Fisk's Travels in Europe; 
Schoolcraft's Travels to the sources of the Mississippi; 
Silliman's Travels in Europe; Stephens' Incidents of 
Travel in Egypt, Arabia Petrea, Russia, Turkey, Po- 
land, Yucatan, and in Central America ; Audubon's 
Ornithology (I am not sure that Audubon is an Ameri- 
can) ; Coleman's Agricultural Report ; Silliman's Jour- 
nal; Ewbank's Hydraulics; Channing's Works. But 
I must stop, though I have only taken here and there 
a name, and have not gone half through the catalogue. 
Chancellor Kent's Commentaries upon American Law, 
are authority here, and the Book is in frequent request. 
Several American Physicians and Surgeons stand high 
in the estimation of their brethren here. The six pub- 
lished volumes of the " Natural History of New York " 
were for sale here. Messrs. W. & P. have paid forty 
guineas for advertising this work, which begins to 
attract attention. Several copies have been sold to 
Libraries, and a few to wealthy individuals. The work 
is regarded as highly creditable to our State, by all who 
see it. Scientific men, on this side the water, speak of 
it as a valuable contribution. The work sells here at 
$9 per volume. 

I went from the Booksellers to the " Mansion House," 
and ".Guildhall," for the purpose of seeing some of the 
Criminal Courts in session, but they were all closed 

except that of the Lord Mayor, a handsome, intel- 
n 



82 Thuelow Weed's 

ligent looking gentleman, whose ermine robe was 
fringed with gold, and who sat in a small room, sur- 
rounded by Lawyers, Policemen and vagabonds. They 
were half an hour determining whether t a chap who 
stood in the " dark," was an inch or two within or with- 
out the Lord Mayor's jurisdiction when he picked a 
pocket. The accused, however, got the benefit of the 
doubt, and was dischai'ged. But if he would not pick 
a pocket on either or both sides of a jurisdictional line, 
then ugly looks go for nothing. 

Our next visit was to Newgate, the receptacle for 
criminals during the last seven hundred years ! Its 
frowning, gloomy walls but too clearly told its charac- 
ter and history. I sent my card to the Governor with 
a stranger's request to visit the Prison, which was 
courteously granted. A matron conducted us through 
the apartments and cells for female convicts, of which 
there were now but twenty -five, about half of whom 
were awaiting trial, and the others had received sentence 
of transportation. He pointed out an interesting girl, 
about eight years old, that had been kidnapped by 
thieves in Scotland, and brought to London, to be in- 
structed, after the manner of the "Artful Dodger," in 
light-fingered mysteries. A keeper then conducted us 
through the apartments for male prisoners, of which 
there are now less than an hundred, many of whom 
were about to be taken to the hulks for transportation. 
The cells are large and clean, but cold and damp. We 
were shown the place where the walls were, to the gen- 
eral amazement, scaled by a chimney-sweep, who made 
his escape. The iron ruffles in which " Jack Shepard " 
was confined, are also exhibited to visitors. The door 



Letters from Europe. 83 

through, which capital offenders are taken out for execu- 
tion leads through the kitchen. There has not, how- 
ever, been an execution at Newgate for more than a 
year. The "Old Bailey" is connected with " Newgate," 
but the Courts are not now in session. There is a Chapel 
in Newgate where service is performed twice on Sun- 
days and on Tuesdays and Fridays. Each cell is sup- 
plied with the Bible and Episcopal Prayer Book. 

Mr. J. R. Brodhead, the Agent of our State to obtain 
the Colonial History of New York, with whom we had 
exchanged cards, found us at breakfast this morning. 
He is devoting himself very assiduously to the duties 
of his Agency ; but while a general permission to tran- 
scribe documents has been granted by Lord Aberdeen, 
he is required to select and designate the pages, copies 
of which are wanted. These are taken to an official, 
who after reading them, allows or prohibits the Agent 
to make copies. I was glad to learn that Mr. Brod- 
head has found and obtained copies of the official cor- 
respondence of Gen. Montcalm, giving a full account 
of the military operations at Ticonderoga &c, &c, 
during the French War. This supplies a valuable lost 
link in our Colonial History. Mr. Brodhead, in the 
kindest manner tendered us the benefit of his know- 
ledge of London and procured for us admission to places 
of much interest. 

We are indebted to Mr. Timothy Wiggin, a distin- 
guished Merchant of this city (to whom Mr. Corning 
gave me a very kind Letter), for many attentions. To- 
day he procured for us, from the Rev. Dr. Horner, of 
the British Museum, special permission to visit the 
Library of the Hon. the East India Company, in Lead- 



84 Thurlow Weed's 

enhall street ; and from the Governor of the Bank of 
England, special directions to an officer of that Institu- 
tion to show our party through the great " Monster " 
on Monday or Thursday of next week. Mr. Wiggin is 
a native of New Hampshire, and in frame and stature, 
resembles Jonathan Mason, the M'Neils, and my de- 
ceased friend Robert Hunter, who were born in the 
same vicinity. He seems about sixty-five, but is hale 
and robust. He has for forty-three years resided in 
London, and has been very useful to American Mer- 
chants, and suffered severely, I believe, in 1836 and 
1837, by reason of relations with and confidence in 
American Houses. Just before the commencement of 
our last War with England, Mr. Wiggin was so much 
incensed by the arrogance and aggressions of the British 
Government, that he abandoned his business here, re- 
turned to America, took his residence, temporarily, at 
Boston, where his sanction, efforts, and means were 
freely devoted to whatever was required to defend the 
soil and preserve the rights of his native country. With 
the return of Peace, he came back to London, and has 
taken no other interest in American politics since, than 
as a looker-on. 

I have seen Queen Victoria ! And she seems a nice 
young woman, of whom the People think the better 
now that she is nursing her own baby ! We caught 
up a rumor that Her Majesty would leave Buckingham 
Palace at half-past two to-day, and therefore took an 
Omnibus that set us down by St. James's Park Gate. 
Reaching the Palace, we found a detachment of Horse 
Guards drawn up in front of the Gate, around which 
some 500 or more well-dressed Ladies and Gentlemen 



Letters feom Europe. 85 

were in waiting. In half-an-hour the Queen's Carriage 
and Four, with two Postilions and two Pages, drove 
into the Court Yard, followed by three other Carriages 
and Four. In a quarter of an hour more, the Horse 
Guards mounted, and soon after the Royal cortege gal- 
loped through the Gate into the Park. We were 
advantageously posted, but the Queen, evidently not 
knowing precisely where ice stood, had leaned forward 
to adjust her slipper, and did not rise till the Carriage 
was passing- us, so that we had but a glimpse of her 
face. We had, however, a regular stare at Prince 
Albert, who appeared passive, docile and happy, as all 
young gentlemen who marry Queens and Palaces ought. 

L , who had a better view of Her Majesty, says that 

Sully's portrait of her is faithful and striking. The 
Prince Regent and Princess Amelia (a prettily-dressed 
boy and girl), were in the next Carriage. The Queen 
was in deep but plain mourning for the Duke of Sussex. 
There was very little pomp or parade in this movement. 
I have seen more pretension where there was less rank, 
and more smoke with less fire. But suffering acutely 
from a jumping toothache and an agued face, caught 
in the damp cells of Her Majesty's Prison at Newgate, 
instead of walking with the multitude in a beautiful 
Park, under a light sky, I hurried to my Lodgings to 
take opium and close this long, and I fear, dull letter. 



86 Thurlow Weed's 



LONDON, July 14, 1343. 

This great Metropolis lias been strangely maligned, in 
regard to its climate, or we have been strangely fortu- 
nate in our visit ; for instead of the smoke, vapors, fogs 
and rains, which we have been taught to dread, we have 
enjoyed a genial atmosphere, a bright sun, with occa- 
sional but refreshing showers, for five successive days. 

London, like the Cataract of Niagara, is constantly 
growing upon the wonder and admiration of strangers. 
I am just beginning to be conscious of the impossibility 
of comprehending its wealth, its magnitude and its mag- 
nificence. Ride for hours, in whatever direction you 
please, and the same evidences of golden conquests are 
presented. All the nations of the Earth must have been 
paying tribute, for centuries, to London, or these untold 
and incomputable millions would not have been concen- 
trated here. 

I was wondering this morning how much " Provant " 
was required to furnish this Army of People with rations. 
An inquiry shows that 1,500,000 quarters (seven bush- 
els) of wheat are required annually to supply London 
with Bread ; that 120,000 tons of Fish are caught here 
(of which 45,000 tons are fresh Salmon) annually ; the 
annual consumption of Butter is estimated at 40,000,000 
pounds, and the price varies from Is. to Is. 6d., or from 
two to three shillings our currency ; of Meats I can get 



Letters from Europe. 87 

no estimate, but there is brought annually to Snrithfield 
Market alone, 180,000 oxen, 450,000 Hogs or Pigs, 
1,350,000 Sheep or Lambs, and 25,000 Calves ; of Milk, 
it is said that 11,000 Cows supply the Metropolis with 
8,030,000 gallons, annually, at an average price of Is. 
lOd. per eight quarts. Eggs are sent here in great 
quantities, in crates, by water, from Ireland, Belgium, 
Holland and France, and sold sometimes as low as 8d. 
per dozen, but generally from Is. to Is. 6cl. Hogs are 
fatted here in the yards of Breweries and Distilleries, for 
while everything of the grain kind is called " Corn," 
that product is not grown here. Hams sell at 7^d., 
Shoulders at 6d., and smoked Side Pork at 5d., in the 
retail stalls and shops. This is just double the price 
with us. 

Everybody drinks Beer in England. I have aston- 
ished Waiters, in two or three instances, by asking for 
"Water. When you seat yourself at table in a " Coffee 
Room " or " Steak House" for Dinner, and have ordered 
your "joint," or " steak," or " chop," the Waiter inquires, 
" iJale, Porter or Stout, sir 1" If in place of either of 
these national beverages you reply Water, he either 
laughs in your face or turns away wondering where 
such a wild chap could have been caught. Now, that I 
have seen something of English habits, I am aston- 
ished that Miss Marttneau should have deemed the 
circumstance that two or three American Women with 
whom she met, were "not all for love, but a little for the 
bottle," worthy of remark. The drinking of Hale, Por- 
ter and Stout, is universal here, with the Females of the 
Poorer classes, when they can get it, and with those of 
the better classes of Mechanics, Females, people and 



88 Thuelow Weed's 

Shop-keepers. While at Dinner, in Birmingham, it was 
observed by all of us that the Ladies at Table drank 
Porter as if they were thirsty, and as if it did them 
good. The Lady opposite to me, who was well dressed 
and well educated, disposed of nearly an entire Bottle. 
You meet Ladies at every turn of the streets in Lon- 
don, "the rubic of whose faces shows the shrines at 
which they kneel." I have met Ladies, at Exhibition 
Rooms, whose fiery faces entitled them to the distinc- 
tion of being classed with Shakspeare's "knights of 
the burning lamp." And you find every sidewalk 
blocked up with lusty Ladies, who are indebted for their 
rubicund faces and rotund persons to habitual beer 
drinking. I yesterday sat in an omnibus with an old 
Lady and Gentleman, evidently of the wealthy class, 
the latter of whom was a victim to Gout, while the 
former displayed a face and nose, the maintenance of 
which had cost as much as Falstaff paid for " sack " to 
keep Bardolph's salamander in fire. 

We went last night to the Adelphi Theatre, where the 
leading attraction was "The Wizard of the North," 
whose wonder-working powers of magic, if we may 
believe the show-bills, have procured for him a com- 
mand to repair to St. Petersburgh to exhibit before the 
Emperor Nicholas. This man is indeed a " Wizard." 
The delusions practiced cast Monsieur Adrent, Signor 
Blitz, and all other Magicians into deep shade. Let me 
astonish you with a few specimens. He came into the 
Boxes and obtained a five pound note from one gentle- 
man, and asked another (any one who chose) to write a 
sentence upon a slip of paper. The note and paper were 
folded so that the Wizard could not see either the num- 



Letters from Europe. 89 

ber of the former or the sentence upon the other, and 
then laid upon a plate, set fire to by a taper, consumed, 
the ashes blown about the stage. The " Wizard " then 
announced the number of the Bank Note, repeated the sen- 
tence written on the slip of paper, and a Page returned 
these articles to the owners in a box which the " Wizard " 
had not touched. He then handed a box to a gentle- 
man nearest the stage, a\ d requested him to deposit any 
article he chose in it, av i to pass it around for simi- 
lar deposits by Ladies an\ Gentlemen promiscuously, 
he standing upon the stage 'When the deposits had 
been made, he requested that Jie box should be placed 
where he cotild see it, with the lid down, and standing 
at least sixty feet from it, he named, and described with 
great minuteness, every article which it contained. He 
requested Ladies and Gentlemen to loan him their 
Handkerchiefs, which were thrown to him from all parts 
of the Theatre. When collected and counted, to the 
number of seventeen, they were placed in a large Ewer, 
into which a servant poured a large bucket of water. 
Having been thoroughly saturated, the Handkerchiefs 
were rinsed and wrung, and then spread, one by one, into 
another vessel, upon each one of which some blazing 
magical elixir was poured ; and within five minutes the 
Handkerchiefs were placed upon a salver and returned 
to the owners washed, dried, ironed, folded and per- 
fumed ! And all this was done openly, without turning 
away from the audience, and without any of the lumber- 
ing accompaniments accompanying ordinary jugglery. 
We devoted the morning to the pursuit of what is 
classic ground to Americans, and what had for me the 

additional interest of professional associations. We 
12 



90 Thuelow Weed's 

found at No. 34 Lincoln's Inn Fields, the building 
occupied eighty years ago, I believe, by Mr. Watts (I 
have no Books to refer to), and with whom Benjamin 
Feanklin worked as a Journeyman Printer. It is 
now occupied for offices of various descriptions, by 
persons too busy to know or care who was their pre- 
decessor. We then started ' for Duke street, where the 
Journeyman Printer from America boarded, and remem- 
bering that it was near a Chapel, I stepped into a 
small Book and Stationer's shop directly opposite a 
Chapel, to inquire if the occupant could direct me to 
Dr. Feanklin's Boarding house, when I had the satis- 
faction of learning that I had crossed the threshold and 
stood under the roof that sheltered the illustrious Amer- 
ican Statesman, Patriot, Philosopher and Philanthro- 
pist. He boarded with an old Widow Lady, of much 
intelligence, and occupied an upper room in the back 
part of the building. The Landlady of Dr. Feanklin, 
and a Lady still older, who had a room in the same 
House, were very devout Catholics. This happens to 
be the character of the present occupants of this House. 
I observed a young man " reading proof," and remarked 
that I was glad to find a brother Typo under the ancient 
roof of the great Master of our Art. The Bookseller 
replied, as you are an American, sir, I may say to you 
that we are trying to carry out Dr. Feanklin's prin- 
ciples in another respect. We are now reprinting an 
American work called " Ieeland Vindicated," and we 
are staunch " Repealers." I informed him that I was 
with Mr. O'Connell when the Trades of Dublin passed 
his House, and on the Stage at Donnybrook Green. 
This led to many inquiries about Ireland, and an invi- 



Letters from Europe. 91 

tation to attend a Repeal Meeting in that street at 8 
o'clock on Sunday evening. 

I intended to have gone from this spot through the 
Mammoth Brewery House of Messrs. Barclay & Perkins, 
but there was so much dampness and humidity in its 
capacious vaults, which were not likely to alleviate 
the ague in my face, that I concluded to content myself 
with an exterior view of an establishment which covers 
thirteen acres in the heart of the city of London ! Well 
might Dr. Johnson have exclaimed, as he did, when (as 
the Executor of Mr. Thrall, the founder of this estab- 
lishment) he played the Auctioneer: — "We do not offer 
you, gentlemen, those empty beer butts and barrels 
merely — here are the potentialities for acquiring wealth 
beyond the dreams of avarice." 

Susdat, July 16. 

We repaired at 11 o'clock this morning to the Found- 
ling Hospital in Guilford street, a noble edifice, founded 
in 1739, for the reception and maintenance of exposed 
and deserted children. The Institution has been liber- 
ally endowed by bequests, and receives constant and 
handsome donations. The Foundlings, to the number 
of 320, of both sexes, were seated in the gallery of the 
chapel, in neat uniform dresses, the boys with mixed 
roundabout and trowsers and scarlet vests, and the girls 
with pretty white aprons and caps. They formed a 
part of the choir in the chaunts and choruses. The 
chapel was filled with a female voice, in solos, so clear, 
rich and melodious that seraphs would have listened 
with admiration. The service was read by a dull man, 
with a husky voice and a sluggish manner. This, how- 
ever, was atoned for in a Sermon from Arch-Deacon 



92 Thurlow Weed's 

Robinson, replete with knowledge, abounding in piety, 
and eloquently and fervently delivered. The congre- 
gation was large and highly respectable. After the ser- 
vice was over (it consumed nearly three hours) the 
Foundlings were marched to the Dining Hall, where, 
after a blessing was asked by one of the oldest boys, 
they sat down to a bountiful repast of Roast Beef and 
Potatoes, without Bread. The whole scene brought 
vividly to mind the most interesting exhibitions of the 
inmates of our own Orphan Asylum, where, if there be 
less of munificence and ostentation, the same benign and 
blessed spirit of charity reigns. There are several valu- 
able Paintings in this Hospital, the most attractive of 
which is that of the Savior's reception of Little Children, 
by Benjamin West. The Organ was presented to the 
Hospital by Handel. 

Monday, July 17. 

I have been through the Thames Tunnel. This is 
to London what the Croton Water Works are to New 
York, the great achievement of the nineteenth century. 
There is nothing at either entrance of the Tunnel 
which indicates that you are in the vicinity of this 
extraordinary improvement. We passed over it in 
a steamer in the morning, without being aware that 
other masses of fellow beings were quietly walking 
through a subterranean passage below us ! The visitor 
is directed " This way to the Tunnel iy " by a board on 
the corner of a street. You descend a winding stone 
stair- way of 100 steps, and enter into the Tunnel, which 
is well lighted with gas, and afforded us a cool, pleasant 
walk, after four hours' exposure to the sun. The Tun- 
nel has two avenues, each wide enough to allow twelve 



Letters from Europe. 93 

or sixteen persons to walk abreast. Half way through, 
a Printing Press is stationed " By Royal Authority," 
which is throwing off sheets containing an account of 
the Tunnel I told the man I would purchase two of 
his sheets provided he would allow me to "pull" them 
myself. This, upon learning that " I knows the ropes," 
as they say at sea, he consented to. I have, therefore, 
an account of the Thames Tunnel, printed by myself, 
standing midway between the London and Surrey sides 
of the river, seventy feet below its bed, with steamers 
and ships passing directly over my head ! 

The Tunnel is two miles below London Bridge, where 
another bridge, which was much wanted, would have 
proved seriously injurious to the immense commerce of 
the metropolis. In 1823, after the failure and abandon- 
ment of several plans for tunneling the Thames, one 
was submitted by Mr. (now Sir J. M.) Brunel, which 
received the confidence of capitalists, and in 1825 he 
commenced his operations. But he encountered difficul- 
ties and obstacles, for years, at every step of his pro- 
gress, that would have disheartened and appalled any 
man but one whom the emergency had produced to ac- 
complish this mighty enterprise. Quicksand beds were 
among the most troublesome and perilous obstacles met 
with. The top of the Tunnel's Arch, about the middle 
of the river, approaches within ten feet of the bottom of 
the river. Four times, during its progress, the Tunnel 
and Shafts were filled with water, and the irruption of 
1827 threatened to destroy the enterprise, but by the 
most incredible efforts, all was overcome by its indomit- 
able architect, and in 1835, seven years afterward, Sir 
J. M. Brunel was enabled to resume the work. 






94 Thuelow Weed's 

The progress of this great work was necessarily very 
slow. Sometimes, with favorable excavations, two feet 
would be accomplished in twenty-four hours, working 
as they did, with changes of hands, day and night ; 
where the excavation was difficult, only two feet would 
be done in a week ; and for the last three months, so 
great was the labor and so formidable the obstructions, 
that only three feet and four inches progress was made ! 
In August, 1841, fifteen years after the ground was 
broken on the London side of the Thames, Sir J. 
Brunel descended a shaft from the Wapping side and 
passed through a small " drift-way through the shield 
into the Tunnel." Less than two years thereafter, in 
March, 1843, the magnificent work was completed. 
The whole expense of construction is stated at 614,000 
pounds sterling. The toll is only a penny for passing 
through the Tunnel, and but for " the gettin up stairs " 
it would pay well. Until passengers are let down and 
taken up by an engine, it will not take foot passengers 
from the Bridges. 

The son of Sir J. M. Brunel whose life was in such 
imminent danger from swallowing a half crown piece, 
was, with three workmen, caught by one of the inbreaks 
of water and carried by the rushing column through the 
Tunnel to the shaft and up to the surface where he was 
rescued. The three men who were with him perished. 
On the first passage of the steamer Great "Western from 
London to Bristol, he also met with an accident which 
it was supposed would result fatally, but from which he 
recovered. 

The fine weather affords a prospect of good crops, 
though the spring, as with us, was cold and backward. 



Letters from Europe. 95 



XL 

LONDON, July 17, 1843. 

We took the iron steamer " Daisy/' at Blackfriar's stairs, 
after breakfast yesterday, for Greenwich, five miles be- 
low London. Objects of vast historical interest and of 
much architectural grandeur attracted and dazzled the 
eye at every point to which it turned. Passing under 
London Bridge and over the Thames Tunnel, the River 
is wedged so full of shipping as to leave but a small 
passage for the steamers up and down. The ships 
farthest up the Thames are loaded with coal, which is 
discharged into large junks, half scows and half dur- 
ham-boat construction, that are floated along farther up 
the river, and then the coal is measured into bags. 
These bags are loaded into large Pennsylvania looking 
wagons (drawn by the same breed of horses referred 
to as before the drays at Liverpool, and the noblest 
animals for strength, resolution and steadiness, I have 
ever seen), taken throughout the city and sold at an 
average price of twenty-five shillings (or $6.50) per ton. 

St. Catherine's Docks and the London Docks, dis- 
played forests of masts spreading over many acres of 
artificial sea — these Docks, you know, having been 
excavated after the Thames became entirely too small 
to accommodate the shipping which the metropolis 
attracted to her waters. 

We passed several large steamers that run between 
London and various places on the Continent ; and for 



V 



96 Thuelow Weed's 

miles below, as far indeed as we could see, there was a 
continuous wilderness of masts and spars, those most 
distant being so indistinct as to resemble the dry trunks, 
limbs and tops of a girdled Forest. 

Near Greenwich we passed close to the ship-of-war 
" Dreadnaught" one of these enormous "wooden walls" 
that helped to render England terrible to her contin- 
ental enemies, but which is now, under the auspices of 
a Female Charitable Society, a Hospital for Seamen. 
She is a majestic hulk, with four tiers of port-holes, 
that look destruction even after the brazen-mouthed 
engines of slaughter have been withdrawn. 

Upon our steamer "Daisy" was a Band (with three 
instruments) playing sweetly, and at every stopping 
place a plate was handed to the departing Passengers, 
each one of whom deposited his penny or ha-pence as 
unhesitatingly as if this small stipend had been " nom- 
inated in the bond." There are, as I have observed, 
numbers of persons about the Metropolis who maintain 
themselves by these conventionalities, which, while 
nobody is obliged or required to pay, yet everybody 
does pay as a thing "in course." Theatre bills, instead 
of being given to you, as with us, inside, are sold at the 
entrances, by half-mendicant men and women, for a 
penny. The cross-walks are kept clean by persons who 
derive their support from the voluntary half-penny con- 
tributions of those who pass. In two instances I saw 
the mud removed from the cross-walks by women, who 
plied the scraper with one arm, and carried an infant, 
probably for effect, in the other. These persons have 
a property, of some sort, in their respective cross-walks, 
but whether by prescription, possession, or the payment 



Letters from Europe. 9? 

of license money, I am unable to say — but from the 
minuteness and impartiality of the English system of tax- 
ation, these servitors of the cross-walks are not unlikely 
to derive their authority from Her Majesty's Govern- 
ment. When you employ a Hack or a Cab, its Door is 
opened and shut, not by the Hack or Cabman, but by a 
person who expects and receives his penny from you. 
But let us get back to Greenwich, where we found 
the docks, shipping and shores lined with People, col- 
lected, as we soon found, to witness " The Annual 
Greenwich Regatta," under the Patronage of Princess 
Somebody, whose name has escaped me. There were 
to be five heats of a mile each, with half an hour's 
time to breathe between each heat, or to speak more 
properly, 'eat. Soon after our arrival, six boats, each 
with "one pair of sculls" (as they call the oar), started, 
and pulled briskly and bravely through. The competi- 
tors were designated by their jackets of green, yellow, 
scarlet, white, &c. The river was jammed so full of 
small craft that it seemed impossible for the Regatta 
boats to find their way through, and they did encounter 
some obstruction; and in the third heat a boat with half 
a dozen men in it ran so foully into one of the com- 
petitors, that his friends in another boat made for the 
offenders, and a general naval engagement ensued, in 
which blows were dealt with such effect that several of 
the combatants were knocked down and one overboard. 
After a cessation of hostilities, both boats pulled for 
the shore, where the battle seemed to be renewed amid 
a great crowd of spectators. We came away before 
the last heat (at 8 o'clock, p. m.), but the London 
papers of this morning give us the result. 

13 



98 Thurlow "Weed's 

"We did not, however, come away from Greenwich 
without having a most gratifying view of the Hospital, 
one of the many noble charities which have been found- 
ed, endowed and are supported in London. The Royal 
Observatory, built by Charles II, and the best in 
Europe, stands upon an eminence here. This Obser- 
vatory is the meridian from which Astronomers all over 
the world make their calculations. There is a beautiful 
Park on an eminence beyond the Hospital, from which 
is a good view of London. Within and around the 
Hospital the old veterans are seen pacing leisurely about 
or gathered into groups lounging quietly upon benches 
under the lee of a wall, or an arbor, or an alcove. As 
I entered, one of them directed me to the " Painted 
Hall," to which Art has imparted an interest second 
only to the noble achievements thus perpetuated. In 
the vestibule of the cupola is painted a splendid com- 
pass with its points and bearings ; and in the covings, 
in magnificent chiaro-obscuro, the winds with then attri- 
butes are seen. The Artist, Sir James Thornville, was 
engaged ten years upon these pictures. The Hall, on 
either side, is hung with Paintings of Naval Battles and 
Portraits of Naval Heroes, among which are several of 
Lord Nelson, who is evidently the Washington of Eng- 
land. In the Chapel, too, are many excellent Paintings, 
the best of which is St. Paul's Preservation from Ship- 
wreck, by Benjamin West. There are Naval Schools 
here in which the sons of officers and seamen are edu- 
cated. The number of boys in the schools now is 
about 500. 

But the admiration which this massive pile of build- 
ings excites, and the charms which its Halls have bor- 



Letters from Europe. 99 

rowed from. Art and Genius, fade away and are forgot- 
ten while you are contemplating the living chroniclers 
of Maritime Glory. Painting and Sculpture can but 
reflect and personify deeds of renown. But here are 
the men, the bone and muscle, the thews and sinews by 
whom all these prodigies were achieved — men who have 
for nearly a hundred years 

"Braved the battle and the breeze." 

Here are Veterans who were engaged in the Battle with 
the Spanish Fleet off Cape St. Vincent, in 1797, when 
Lord Nelson boarded the San Joseph of 112 guns. 
There are others who were with Admiral Duncan when 
he gained his Victory over the Dutch Fleet off Camper- 
down. There are survivors of Nelson's Victory over 
the French, in 1798, off the Nile; and several who 
were on board the Victory with Nelson, in his last bat- 
tle at Trafalgar, in 1805. In short, there are men here 
who have helped to carry the British Flag through every 
Ocean and Sea, and who have fought in all England's 
Naval Battles for the last seventy-five years. They 
are the maimed and scarred and seamed, but still living 
monuments of her glory. You see some with but one 
leg, others with but one arm, and others again with but 
a single eye ; and in the Infirmary are those who have 
but an arm and a leg, and others who have lost both 
legs. With their three-cocked hats, long waisted blue 
coats, their weather-beaten and time-furrowed counten- 
ances, and their grave deportment, these veterans com- 
mand attention and respect. I exceedingly regretted 
that I had so limited myself in time, as not to be able 
to hear some " long yarns." If ever I go there again 
it shall be with pockets full of Tobacco, and with an 



100 Thuelow Weed's 

intention to make a day of it. Many of these Old Tars 
are fine looking men ; several of them displayed intel- 
ligence and manners that would grace a quarter-deck, 
and I saw two, I am sure, who, with the aid of fortune or 
family, would have been Admirals instead of Pensioners. 

There are 2,700 Pensioners now at Greenwich. In 
the Hospital Infirmary are 105 nurses to take care of the 
sick, infirm and disabled. The naval uniform coat worn 
by Nelson at the Battle of the Nile, is deposited in a 
glass case and exhibited to visitors. 

On our return from Greenwich, we were set down 
at the Tower, which is near the River and not far below 
London Bridge. The first view of the Towee (or 
rather Towers, for there are three of them) caused a 
shuddering recollection of the cruelties and horrors that 
have been perpetrated within its frowning walls, the 
blood-stained annals of which are to be found upon 
almost every page of English history. The Tower 
covers twelve acres, and was, you know, the Castle of 
the early Kings of England. We passed from the 
arched gateway through a winding stone court to a 
refreshment apartment, from whence a Warden, after 
a party of a dozen had arrived, conducted us first into 
the Hoese Aemory, where some forty Knights, Noble- 
men and Monarchs, mounted, are clothed in the Armor 
worn in the respective Reigns in which the individuals 
lived. Here is a suit of Armor actually owned and 
worn by Henry VIII, in 1520 ; a suit of Armor 
belonging to the Earl of Leicester, Queen Elizabeth's 
favorite, as gorgeous as that which is said to have been 
worn in the Tournaments ; the Armor worn by the 
Earl of Essex at the Coronation of Geoege II ; a beauti- 



Letters from Europe. 101 

ful suit of Armor worn by the Prince of Wales (son 
of James I, 1601) when only twelve years old. There 
are, also, several suits of Armor worn by distinguished 
Crusaders. To all which is added a nameless number 
of ancient Shields, Helmets, Gauntlets, Pikes, Spears, 
Cross-bows, Battle-axes, &c, &c, which mark the ages 
in which these various implements of destruction and 
defense were in use. 

We then ascended to Queen Elizabeth's Armory, 
which was long the Prison of doomed men, among 
whom was Sir Walter Raleigh. Queen Elizabeth, 
in a dress like one she wore to St. Paul's, on a pony 
led by a page (as she is here represented), to return 
thanks for the deliverance of her Kingdom from a 
Spanish invasion, is the prominent object in this Room. 
This, like the Armory below, is filled with the instru- 
ments of death wielded in the barbarous ages to which 
they refer. But I will not weary you with details. 
Here is the block upon which, it is said, two of the 
wives of Henry VIII were beheaded, but I notice that 
it is affirmed with more confidence that the Earl of 
Essex suffered upon this Block, and by a blow from the 
ferocious looking Axe by its side. Crowns and Stars 
are curiously wreathed upon the walls with Swords, 
Pikes, Halberds, Bayonets, Pistols, Spears, &c, &c. 

From this Armory we were handed over to a Matron, 
who ushered us with great solemnity into the Regalia. 
Here, since the Reign of Henry III, Kings and Queens 
have deposited their golden and jeweled Baubles and 
Playthings ; but gorgeous and sparkling as they are, I 
looked with any feelings rather than awe or admiration 
upon these costly and precious trinkets. The Imperial 



102 Thurlow Weed's 

Crown of her present Majesty, which forms the Dome 
of this Royal Pyramid, is hooped in diamonds and 
studded with brilliants, surmounted by sapphire. In 
front is the ruby worn by the Black Prince. The Royal 
Toy cost a million sterling. There are massive gold 
Tankards, Banqueting Dishes, Baptismal Font, Winter 
Fountain, &c, &c, which, with the Crowns of other 
Monarchs, cost three millions sterling. 

We were not shown into the Beauchamp Tower, so 
long used for the confinement of " State Prisoners," 
though I was most anxious to see the dungeon home 
of the Earl of Warwick, Earl of Leicester, Lady Jane 
Gray and others, who " sorrowing, suffered " there. 

The fire of 1841 destroyed what were designated the 
" Grand Store House " and the " Small Armory," in 
which most of the Trophy cannon were deposited. 
These valued memorials of English victories, are now 
arranged in the yards, either melted, mutilated or 
defaced. They are to be taken to Woolwich, where 
new Pieces are to be recast from the same metals in 
their original forms. 

July 18. 

We availed ourselves this morning of the permission 
obtained by Mr. Wiggin, to visit the Bank of England. 
An official (Macer or Usher) with laced dress coat and 
three-cornered hat, escorted us to another servant of the 
Bank, who took us leisurely through an Institution that 
is so potent in controlling and regulating the money 
pulsations of Europe. It is situated on Threadneedle 
street, but fronts upon half a dozen others, and occupies 
an irregular area of eight acres. There are no windows 
through the exterior of the building, light being supplied 



Letters from Europe. 103 

by skylights and open courts within. There is a clock, 
by which Bank time is kept, with dials indicating the 
time in sixteen different offices. The Bank with its 
various offices are open from 9 a. m. till 5 p. m. The 
Bank .has its Printing Office, Bookbindery, Engraving 
Office, &c, &c. Checks, Blank Books, &c, &c, are all 
printed within the Bank, as are the Bank Notes. In 
the Room where the circulating notes are printed, there 
are eight Presses, all constantly employed, and which 
throw off about 8,000 impressions daily. We saw two 
Presses rolling off five-pound notes, and others upon 
the various denominations up to a 1,000^, which is the 
largest note the Bank issues. The dates and numbers 
of the notes are supplied by smaller Presses in another 
room. The paper is delivered to the Presses counted 
(an hundred sheets at a time) and when worked and 
returned, another hundred sheets are given. Pressmen 
work five hours and earn from two to three guineas a 
week. In the office where redeemed notes are examined, 
canceled, &c, 136 Clerks are constantly employed. 
When we entered this room our attendant was sharply 
reprimanded for bringing strangers there, but upon 
being informed that it was by " the Governor's order," 
we were allowed to pass. Forty thousand different 
notes are frequently sent to this office, to be canceled, 
in a day. The Bank, you know, never reissues a note. 
When returned to its counter for payment, a note is 
canceled, filed away, to be burnt at the expiration of 
ten years. The Armory of the Bank contains an hun- 
dred stand of muskets, with pistols, cutlasses, hand- 
grenades, &c, &c, and has a night guard 38 strong. 
In the office where the Bank notes are counted into 



104 Thurlow Weed's 

parcels, tied with twine and placed in pigeon-holes, we 
found five staid, methodical, matter-of-fact looking 
Clerks, whom you would trust for their faces. One of 
these old chaps, with the precision of " Old Owen" and 
the good nature of " Tim Linkenwater," took his keys 
and unlocked the depositories of paper wealth. The 
"rags" of each denomination were in separate parcels. 
When we came to the "high number" he placed four 
packages in my hand, and remarked, " you now hold 
£4,000,000 sterling in your hand, sir." Yes, I actually 
was in possession of twenty millions of dollars, a 
sum much larger than the whole estate of John Jacob 
Astor ! But it all returned to its pigeon-hole, and left 
me a far happier man than those who are encumbered 
with such overgrown fortunes. Another of the old 
Clerks opened the golden dormitories, where repose an 
endless number of bags, each containing eight hundred 
sovereigns. We were next and finally conducted to a 
subterranean region enriched by gold and silver bullion. 
Here bars of the precious metals were as plentifully 
heaped as those of iron and steel are in the stores of 
our friends Benedict, Townsend and Corning. The 
Silver we did not meddle with, but we handled bars of 
Gold, each weighing eight thousand pounds sterling, 
that were piled in barrow-loads of seventy thousand 
pounds sterling each. Much of this bullion was recently 
received from China, as an installment upon the sum John 
Bull makes the Celestials pay for their obstinate refusal 
to "take opium." The Bank of England has now, in 
paper and specie, nearly thirty-eight millions of pounds 
sterling. There are eight hundred persons, in its various 
departments, constantly employed within its walls. 



Letters from Europe. 105 



XII. 

LONDON, July 19, 1843. 

There is, unquestionably, a vast amount of poverty, 
destitution, distress and suffering in this gigantic " Ulcer," 
as Mr. Jefferson called cities. But there is, in their 
habits or policy, some trick of concealment for which 
great credit is due. With rare exceptions, wretchedness 
and mendacity, in rags and filth, seldom obtrude them- 
selves upon you in the streets of London. The Beg- 
gars you do encounter are, for the most part, so palpa- 
bly in studied costume, and with rehearsed parts, that 
your risibility, rather than your sympathy, is moved by 
their appeals. The cases of real suffering are so few as 
to impose but a light burthen upon your pocket, for a 
ha-pence is all that is asked or expected. You meet 
the Poor in shoals, but they seem to have employment 
which supplies them, scantily, I suppose, with the neces- 
saries of life. A few maimed persons sit, as in New 
York, on the sidewalks, and blind people are led about 
by faithful dogs, whose bruised limbs and sightless 
organs, with mute but resistless eloquence, speak to the 
hearts of those who " feel for other's woe." You meet, 
too, occasionally, beggar women with two infants in 
their arms. One of this class besieged me with such 
pertinacity, and in such " set terms," that I said to her, 
you want a ha-pence — now I will give four ha-pences 
if you will tell me which of those children is borrowed I 

14 



106 Thurlow "Weed's 

She affected to be wounded by this suspicion, and pro- 
tested that they were both her own, and that while she 
was without food they were suffering for nourishment. 
But finally with a promise of sixpence, and being 
assured that I would not expose her, she admitted that 
not only one, but both of the babies were hired, and 
that she paid, to their different mothers, two shillings a 
week each, for the use of them. She added that they 
nursed her own boy, who was older, while she was out 
with " the twins." 

There is, I suppose, abject poverty and squalid vice 
in the loathsome forms that are so often described in 
the purlieus of London, but these regions are so distant 
I see little chance of reaching them. The City is so 
constructed that the "Wealthy, the Middling and the 
Poorer classes reside in each other's vicinage. Very 
narrow Courts, Lanes and Alleys run back from the 
streets. These Courts, &c, are mostly occupied by the 
Laboring Poor, who seem far more comfortable than the 
denizens of many of ovu - own narrow streets. 

Another thing struck me with surprise here. Profane 
Swearing has gone quite out of Fashion. I cannot speak 
for the Nobility, because I have not reached their circle, 
but with all the other classes cursing and swearing is 
" honored in the breach " rather than " in the observ- 
ance." Oaths and imprecations, so common in America, 
are not heard here, even among the Watermen, Cabmen, 
Coalbearers, or Scavengers. The language of blas- 
phemy, in its various "sliding scales" of enormity, 
came as a part of our Education from the Mother 
Country. Is it not reasonable to hope, therefore, that 
among other English Fashions adopted by Americans, 



Letters from Europe. 107 

our People will soon forbear to mingle the name of 
their Creator and Redeemer profanely either in their 
idle conversations or their excited controversies 1 

We have been recognized but by three Americans 
since we came here, though London is full of Yankees. 
I detest the custom of temporary denationalization 
which has obtained among Americans in Europe. It is 
a pitiful affectation. I hunted up, immediately after my 
arrival here, a young gentleman who has been several 
months abroad, and to whom I brought a Letter from 
his Father, and of whom I hoped and expected to see 
much, but he has not been near us. I have met several 
who must have known me (all raw) as an American, as 
readily as I knew them ; but they " passed upon the 
other side." The other day, in returning from our pil- 
grimage to see Queen Victoria, we got into a 'Bus in 
front of a gentleman whom I should have known to be 
a Yankee (as the wag told Alderman Brasher), if I had 
seen his " hide in a tan-yard." I entered into conver- 
sation with him about London, but for half an hour he 
gave no sign. I finally said, " You are an American, I 
perceive, sir." The ice being thus broken, we talked on 
without restraint, and have since been much together. 
This gentleman is of the Legal Profession in Nassau st. 
(very intelligent and agreeable) who is making a run to 
the Continent for his health. At the Depot, when we 
came from Liverpool, I saw a gentleman of such un- 
questionable American bearing, that I offered him my 
hand. In taking it cordially, he said, " Is your name 
"W V " Yes, sir." " My name is H , of Nash- 
ville. I was introduced to you some years ago at Al- 
bany." This gentleman, who is the editor of a Jackson 



108 Thurlow "Weed's 

paper, is the same who was engaged in a rencontre with 
a son or sons of the late U. S. Senator Foster. He 
has recently received the appointment of Agent from 
Capt. Tyler, to look after the Tobacco interests of the 
Southern States. Having obtained what information 
was required here, he proceeded to Vienna. 

Mr. Brodhead remarked the other evening upon the 
exceeding regularity that existed in the London Post- 
Office, and I was surprised to-day by an evidence of 
the truth of his remark. Some of my friends did me 
the favor to send me a copy of " The Northern Star." 
The parcel was about three inches long and less than 

an inch wide, and was simply directed to " T W , 

London." The Packet ship that brought this Paper 
arrived here night before last, and yesterday morning 
the Paper was left at my Hotel ! Had this paper been 
to the care of Baring & Brothers, there would have 
been no mystery about the matter ; but how Post-Office 
Clerks and Penny-Posts divine the whereabouts of 
obscure strangers, is more puzzling. 

I had supposed that street shows, for the edification 
of the sovereigns of the garrets and cellars, had abated 
here as with us. But in this I am mistaken. On our 
way yesterday to Westminster Abbey, we saw a par- 
ticularly miscellaneous crowd assembled at some dis- 
tance in a narrow street, which had been attracted, as 
we found, by a strolling company of " Ground and 
Lofty " Tumblers, who had stopped their donkey wagon, 
spread their cloaks in the street, and, in appropriate cos- 
tume, were about to commence their " unrivaled, uni- 
versally admired, never-to-be-equaled and truly won- 
derful feats of strength and agility." "When the hat 



Letters from Eukope. 109 

went its rounds for pennies, those who had them (this 
class of the audience were in a very decided minority) 
gave as readily as if the Mountebanks had been invited 
to come to that particular street by the particular indi- 
viduals who were so fortunate as to witness their pro- 
digies. And at Greenwich, the other day, I saw for the 
first time in full thirty years, a regular and legitimate 
" Punch and Judy " exhibition ! During this long lapse 
of time, I am sorry to say that I could discover no im- 
provement in " Judy's " manners or temper. She was 
the same incorrigible scold and vixen now, at Green- 
wich, in England, that she was when I saw her. in 1807, 
at Catskill, in America ; and she indulged in the same 
vexatious airs and attitudes until she provoked " Punch," 
now as then, to box her ears, at which John Bull was 
much delighted, in his old age and wisdom, as Brother 
Jonathan was in his youth and simplicity. 

Talking of " Puppet Shows, I am reminded of Sick- 
els ! There must be thousands in our State, who 
remember this indefatigable little man, with an enor- 
mously big wife, to whom, from 1800 to 1811 or '12, 
the Villages were indebted for rustic and primitive 
Theatricals. I certainly can never forget the ecstasies 
into which I was thrown during my " first night " at 
Sickels's Exhibition — an enjoyment which would have 
been complete had not my Father, who took me to the 
door and paid the potent sixpence that gave me entrance, 
denied himself the luxury of laughing at " Punch and 
Judy " and weeping over " the Babes in the Woods." 
But when, some two or three years afterwards, I was 
again admitted to the " Exhibition," Sickels had multi- 
plied his wonders by the addition of a " Naval Engage- 



110 Thurlow "Weed's 

nient between two Ships," where, according to the show- 
bills, there was to be " firing on both sides," with an 
assurance at the bottom, that " during the Performance 
there will be good Music on the Organ," I thought the 
perfection of the scenic art had been attained. 

Noblemen, as a class, here, are distinguished as readily 
by the plainness of their dress as by the simplicity of 
their address. Were you to judge of rank by the cut 
and texture of the coat, or the tie of the cravat, you 
would be sure to mistake the Footman for the Peer. 
The Duke of Wellington, Lord John Russell, Sir Rob- 
ert Peel, though certainly not " out at the elbows," are, 
when seen in Parliament, quite plainly dressed gentlemen. 
But then- Footmen and Valets adorn their persons with 
as much taste, and as elaborately, as the exquisites who 
are to be seen in American Drawing and Assembly 
Rooms. And the consequential personages who stand 
in Noblemen's Halls, to answer the Bell, are so redun- 
dantly decorated with lace, spangles and powder, that 
they remind you of the Mock Duke in " Rule a Wife 
and have a Wife." The " swell " genus is almost extinct 
here. There is occasionally an old Beau, who makes 
himself tip of artificial hair, teeth, eyebrows, whiskers, 
calves, &c, &c, after the manner of " Potts," whom 
Lockhart immortalized in " Peter's Letters to his Kins- 
folk ; " and you sometimes meet a thing that owes its 
existence to its Tailor, but they are rare, and belong, it 
is said, to Crockford or some other Gaming House 
Proprietor. The moral of all this is, that we, instead 
of a new London rig all round, as was anticipated, wear 
our American made clothes. This is a great luxury to 
me, who, like Dominie Samson, have been accustomed 



Letters from Europe. Ill 

to find a new garment, in the morning, on the chair 
from which the old one had been removed as often as 
time and circumstances rendered such a change proper 
and necessary. Our Coats and Waistcoats, though not 
of the latest fashion, are such as were worn in London 
only six or eight months ago ; and my Hat (one of 
Frothingham & Co.'s fine beavers) is so much better 
than those to be found here, that I am proud to wear it 
as a specimen of American manufacture. 

"While sitting the other evening at a large Table in 
the Coffee Room of our Hotel we were struck with the 
number and depth of the indentations upon its leaf, and 
after various conjectures the Waiter was called, and in 
reply to our inquiry how the Table got so many wounds, 
said — " It's the Free Masons, Sir. They spoils all our 
Tables. When the Song or the Sentiment pleases them 
they comes down right heavy with the hedges of their 
glasses. There's quite a number of the Lodges Sup 
here 7ievery week." Upon inquiring whether the Tum- 
blers, as well as the Tables, did not suffer from such 
violent contact, he answered, " Oh, no, Sir ; they has 
glasses made for themselves, strong enough to knock an 
hox in the 'ead." This incident, which occurred several 
evenings since, is brought to mind from the circumstance 
that while I am writing the Members of the Fraternity 
in the adjoining room to me are now singing 

" The Wife of a Free and Accepted Mason," 

in such high glee and joyous chorus, as to leave no 
doubt but that the Tables will catch it again to-night. 
The Ancient Free Masons' Tavern, of which we have 
read so much, and which Hogarth introduced into one 
of his great Pictures of London, was, I believe, in the 



112 Thurlow "Weed's 

vicinity of Blackfriars, and, for aught I know, this very 
Hotel may be the Phoenix that sprung from its ashes. 

There are few, if any, respectable Hotels in America 
whose Proprietors have not a Private Library of Stand- 
ard English Works. But it is otherwise here. With 
every disposition to oblige guests, your Host cannot, 
when you want to look at Shakspeare, Byron, John- 
son, Scott, &c, take the Volume from his own Library ; 
nor can he; like our deceased friend Cruttenden, give 
you the quotations and correct readings from the British 
Classics without referring to the texts. To purchase 
Books at English prices, when we can get them at home 
for less than a quarter what they cost here is out of the 
question. Nor do you fare much better at the Circu- 
lating Libraries, from one of which I ordered a Work 
yesterday. It came to me in five volumes, for which I 
pay as many shillings sterling. 

The keepers of the "Crack" Hotels here have gen- 
erally been in the service of Noblemen, who, in reward 
for their fidelity, establish them in business. Others 
have been intelligent and favorite head waiters, who 
have saved enough from their receipts to establish them- 
selves. Head waiters and Chambermaids pay for their 
situations. Two of the waiters in this house pay six- 
teen shillings (or $4) a week to its proprietor for the 
privilege of doing his work and attending upon his 
guests. The other waiters pay a less sum. 

The young gentleman to whom I referred in another 
part of this Letter, as not having returned our call, 
came in an hour afterwards. He visits Europe more 
for information in relation to Civil Engineering, Me- 
chanics, &c, than for pleasure, and had been actively 



Letters from Europe. 113 

engaged for several days, but he is now done with 
London, and goes to Scotland with us. 

The Queen went to the Opera, in state, last evening. 
The price of tickets, when it was known that her 
majesty was to grace the occasion, rose to two sovereigns. 
There was a great rush for seats. A young gentleman 
from Baltimore, spoken of in a former Letter as a fellow 
passenger, who has attached himself to our party, gives 
a ludicrous account of the scramble. He stationed 
himself at the Theatre door soon after four o'clock in 
the afternoon, and at half-past six, when the doors 
opened, was lifted off his seat by the mass that had col- 
lected around him, and thus carried into the Pit, where 
he stood wedged in, panting for breath, till half-past 12 
o'clock. 

I have spoken of the high price of books here. I 
paid either a dollar or nine shillings a number for the 
first four numbers of " The Burney Papers." The fifth 
number, that had not appeared in America when I left, 
cost me a guinea here ! I am as much astonished as 
vexed, by the way, that these delightful Memoirs of 
Madame D'Arblay are so little read. With the excep- 
tion of Hannah More, there are no Memoirs for the last 
fifteen years so replete with interest and information. 

We went yesterday to a Review in Hyde Park, 
which, to us, was a brilliant affair. The only very dis- 
tinguished personages in the field were the Dukes of 
Wellington and Cambridge, the latter being, as you 
know, one of the two surviving Sons of George IV, 
and Uncle to her present majesty. He has command of 
a Regiment, which adds some fifteen hundred pounds per 
annum to his income. I posted myself early near Hyde 

15 



114 Thurlow "Weed's 

Park gate, through which the Field Marshal was to pass. 
This gave me a good view of the Hero of Waterloo, 
who, with his suite, passed me on a walk. The veteran 
shows that old age has no respect for rank. He did 
not sit erect in his saddle, and his head and hands were 
both tremulous ; tho' when I saw him afterwards, in the 
sham fight, receiving and despatching his Aids to the 
different divisions, he seemed two or three inches taller 
and twenty years more youthful. There were 2,000 " red- 
coats" in the field, and the Review occupied two hours. 
I was more interested with the People than with the 
Troops. All classes were out, the day being extremely 
pleasant. Here, as with us, on such occasions, Booths, 
Stands, &c, &c, with refreshments, were erected through- 
out the Park. You saw nothing, however, in the way 
of beverages, bat Ginger Beer, which was cried at a 
penny a (pint) Bottle. Women and Boys circulated 
among the spectators crying " Cherries, all ripe, two- 
pence a pound, full weight;" " Strawberries, rare and 
ripe, threepence a pottle," &c, &c. But the principal 
traffic was in "Stands" and "Seats." Every garret and 
cellar within the precincts of Hyde Park, had been rifled 
of Chairs, Benches, Boxes, &c, to accommodate those 
who wanted to see or sit. At an early hour the crowd 
gathered in a small circle around the Troops. Soon a 
detachment of Horse Guards were ordered to enlarge 
the circle, and then commenced a backward movement 
in a dense mass of human beings (men, women and 
children) and a breaking up and over-setting of stands 
and chairs that was exceedingly ludicrous. The multi- 
tude, after retreating a few rods, would make a stand 
and resume their position, only, however, to be broken 



Letters from Europe. 115 

up again as the Dragoons approached ; and in this way 
the Horsemen cleared an area (which did not at first 
embrace more than twenty acres) of at least a mile 
square. And this was done so quietly that although 
the horses were constantly driven against a wall of 
People, not one was hurt, nobody got into a passion, 
and there was no cursing. 

There was great competition among the proprietors of 
Stands and Seats, for occupants. The prices fluctuated 
for the same Stands. When a particular stand became 
eligible, from the circumstance that the Duke had 
planted himself opposite to it while the column passed 
him in review, the privilege cost half a crown (unless 
secured by chance before-hand), though ten minutes 
before it went begging at sixpence. I rented an old 
chair from a Poor Woman who rejoiced in two of 
these convenient household articles, together with an 
empty barrel across the head of which was a board. 
She was "a field" (having three "young 'uns" to 
assist her), with as high hopes and as much solicitude 
about the clay's venture, as the merchant whose " mind 
is tossing on the ocean, 

" Peering in maps, for ports, and piers and roads," 

for the safe moving of the "argosies with hearty sail," 
which he expects from the Eastern Indies. I was to 
pay three pennies for the chair, and a penny to the boy 
who carried it about for me. With this portable stand 
I was quite independent, and therefore "kept moving" 
with the boy and chair at my heels, mounting my 
rostrum as often as there was anything within the 
walls constructed of heads and shoulders that attracted 
attention. At the close of the Review, when, in addi- 



116 Thuelow Weed's 

tion to the sum stipulated, I added two pennies to the 
boy's share of the "spoils," his bright face showed that 
he was mentally saying, " whatever may have been the 
luck of the other renters of old chairs, I am rich and 
happy." 

The Review, as I remarked before, called forth all 
sorts of people and in vast numbers. But good order 
and good temper pervaded throughout. I mixed with 
the spectators, but did not, during the day, see any 
violation of the proprieties of life. The Park was 
thronged with highly respectable Females, who walked 
among the plainest and roughest of the other sex, with- 
out being shocked, as would, I am sorry to say, have 
been the case at an American Review, by profane or 
obscene language. Indeed during the whole day I 
neither saw nor heard anything to offend the eye or 
the ear. 



Letters from Europe. 117 



XIII. 

LONDON, July 21, 1843. 

S and myself have dined with Dr. Samuel John- 
son ! Are you incredulous 1 Then let me explain. 
We dined at the " Dr. Samuel Johnson Tavern," a Steak 
and Chop House in " Bolt Court," where the great 
English scholar and moralist lived. In entering the 
threshold, passed so many hundred times by the Author 
of Rasselas, emotions of reverence and awe came over 
me which the presence or personification of genius, vir- 
tue or piety only can inspire. AVould that these walls 
could impart to visitors some portion of the ethereal 
spirit with which their former illustrious occupant was 
so deeply imbued. 

When Dr. Johnson came to London he took up his 
residence in a Court which still bears his name ; but he 
soon removed to the house I refer to in " Bolt Court," 
where he resided many years, and where so many of 
his achievements in Letters and Literature were accom- 
plished. These Courts both run out of Fleet street, and 
are in the vicinity of Temple Bar and the Strand. The 
room in which Dr. Johnson read and wrote, upon the 
first floor, is a projection from the main building, about 
twelve feet long and eight wide, with a flat roof, through 
which he had a skylight constructed. This room 
remains as he left it, though the other portions of the 
building have been slightly modernized. 



118 Thurlow "Weed's 

We ate a silent dinner, but memory was active and 
alert in conjuring up images of the Painters, Poets, 
Philosophers and Sages, who, in that Augustan age of 
British Literature, surrounded this great literary Levia- 
than. The foot-prints of men whose learning and 
researches, whose talents and genius, contributed to the 
supremacy which England attained in Letters, in Sci- 
ence and in the Arts, during the eighteenth century, had 
been left upon the plank that we now pressed. It was 
here that Boswell watched and waited with obsequious 
attention for the " fitly spoken " words that fell from the 
Lion's mouth. It was here that Garrick came to play 
with the Lion's mane, see his claws, and hear him roar. 
It was here that Goldsmith came to encounter reproof. 
It was here that Sir Joshua Reynolds and Mr. Lang- 
ton came for social communion. It was here that 
Beauclerk, Steevens, Colman and Sheridan polished 
and chastened their wit. It was here that Dr. Percy, 
Sir William Forbes and Mr. Cambridge replenished 
their stores of knowledge. It was here, too, that Wind- 
ham and Walpole and Burke passed hours in those 
" collisions of mind " to which the world is indebted for 
its mental lights. And here Beauty, as assiduously as 
Learning, paid its court. Here Mrs. Thrale, Mrs. 
Montague, Mrs. Siddons, Hannah More and Frances 
Burney came to " make Tea " for the " Rambler ! " It 
was here that the Doctor, on the occasion of Mrs. Sid- 
dons' first call to " Bolt Court," when a chair was not 
immediately at hand for her, said, " You, Madam, who 
have kept your visitors so frequently without seats, can 
the better excuse this discourtesy." 

In this court the giant in intellect, but elephant in 



Letters from Europe. 119 

person, was wont to take exercise — with gait " between 
an amble and a roll." Here the caterers in " Pater- 
noster Row " used to goad him on with his literary- 
labors ; and here " Printer's Devils " used to beleaguer 
him for " copy." Here Authors beset him for " Pre- 
faces," Players for " Prologues," and surviving friends 
for " Epitaphs." Here he made his powerful but una- 
vailing appeal for Royal clemency to the Rev. Dr. 
Dodd. It was here he rescued the manuscript Sermons 
of the Rev. Dr. Blair from an oblivion to which they 
had been consigned by an Autocrat Publisher. 

Dr. Johnson, you know, was an inveterate Tory in 
Literature, Religion and Politics. In politics as in all 
else that concerned his principles (or prejudices) he was 
inveterate, vindictive and denunciatory. America, before ' 
and during the Revolution, came in for full and rounded 
measure of abuse, expressed in language and sentences 
that fell from his lips like thunderbolts. In speaking of 
us to the Rev. Dr. Campbell, he is represented by Bos- 
well as saying : " Sir, they are a race of convicts, and 
had ought to be thankful for everything we allow them short 
of hanging." But I am willing to forgive him for that 
and all his other Tory offenses, for a single paragraph 
in the Pamphlet entitled "Taxation no Tyranny," which 
he wrote for the Ministry, in reply to the Resolutions 
and Address of the American Congress in 1775. The 
manuscript copy of that Pamphlet, which was submit- 
ted, before publication, to the ministry, contained the 
following paragraph, which does not appear in the 
printed copy. The style would sufficiently establish its 
paternity, if there were not other and conclusive evi- 
dences of its Johnsonian origin : 



120 Thuelow Weed's 

" Their numbers are, at present, not quite sufficient for the 
" greatness which in some form of government or other, is to 
" rival the Ancient Monarchies ; but by Dr. Franklin's rule 
" of progression, they will, m a century and a quarter, be 
" more than equal to the inhabitants of Europe. When the 
" Whigs of America are thus multiplied, let the Princes of the 
" Earth tremble in their Palaces ! If they should continue to 
" double and to double, their own hemisphere would not con- 
" tain them. But let not our boldest impugners of authority 
"look forward with delight to this futurity of Whiggism." 

The reason for suppressing this paragraph is transpa- 
rent. It was a " handwriting upon the wall " of fearful 
import. Less than half the term of years to which Dr. 
Johnson looked forward has been numbered, but the 
prophecy is more than half fulfilled. 

I have been to Westminstee Abbey, that magnificent 
and sublime sepulchre for Monarchs, Princes, Philoso- 
phers, Philanthropists, Poets and Painters. All that I 
had heard and read of the Architectural and Historical 
wonders of the Abbey, into whose Vaults, Aisles, Chapels, 
Naves and Niches, the ashes of the illustrious dead of 
eight centuries have been gathered, left rne wholly unpre- 
pared for the grandeur and gorgeousness of the memo- 
rials here revealed. Here reposes all that remains of 
the mortality' of those who were ennobled either by 
birth or by deeds, with all that marble and brass can 
do to perpetuate their fame. But Tombs and Tablets 
and Monuments and Statues, however ambitiously 
adorned or exquisitely wrought, serve far more effectu- 
ally to illustrate a Creator's power than to magnify a 
creature's rank or name. 

I lingered about these silent chambers of the mighty 
dead with inquiring eyes, until the visitors' hours 
had expired. Westminster Abbey has been so often 



Letters from Europe. 121 

described that it is a relief to feel that my wholly inade- 
quate powers need not be charged with a task of such 
difficulty and magnitude. And even were it otherwise, 
I should not have the presumption to attempt it. To 
say nothing of- the thousands of comparatively ignoble 
whose undistinguished ashes rest here, there are nearly 
four hundred tablets, monuments, mausoleums, statues 
or other obituary memorials of persons whose history 
and character constitute the written annals of England. 

If some of the inscriptions upon these monuments 
strike others as they did me, I shall not weary your 
patience transcribing a few of them. 

That Duke of Buckingham, who was distinguished 
during the reign of King Charles I, lies in brass effigy, 
with a Roman costume, upon an altar with this inscrip- 
tion — "I lived doubtful, not dissolute — I die unre- 
solved, not unresigned. Ignorance and error are 
incident to human nature. I trust in an Almighty and 
all good Grod." And below, both prepared by himself, 
is this — "For my King often, for my country ever." 

The following is an extract from the inscription upon 
the monument erected to the memory of the young 
Princes who were murdered by the order of Richard III : 
" Here lie the relics of Edward V, King of England, 
and his brother Richard, Duke of York, who, being 
confined in the Tower, and there stifled with pillows, 
were privately and meanly buried, by order of their 
perfidious uncle, Richard the Usurper. Their bones, 
long and anxiously inquired after, having laid 190 years 
in the rubbish of the Tower stairs, were on the 17th 
July, 1674, by undoubted proofs, discovered." 

The monument of the Duke and Duchess of New- 

16 



122 Thurlow Weed's 

castle is one of the most costly in the Abbey. They 
lie, in bronze effigy, under a stately canopy. The 
inscription, after setting forth the Duke's qualities, states 
that his " Duchess was of a noble Family ; for all the 
brothers were valiant and all the sisters virtuous. This 
Duchess was a wise, witty and learned lady, which her 
many books do well testify, &c." 

There is an expensive and exceedingly appropriate 
monument to the memory of Sir Isaac Newton, with 
an inscription closing with this exclamation : — " How 
much reason mortals have to pride themselves in the 
existence of such and so great an ornament to the human 
race." 

The monument to the memory of Major Andre, is a 
beautifully sculptured group, representing the first inter- 
view between Washington and Andre. The figure of 
Washington has been three different times so badly 
mutilated that new heads were supplied. There is now 
a striking and undefaced likeness of the Father of our 
country in Westminster Hall. 

The colossal marble statue of Gteorge Canning, and 
another of James Watt, both by Chantry, stand con- 
spicuously in the Abbey, and are noble specimens of 
Art. Would that the unwieldy, ill-designed, un-Amer- 
ican marble effigy of Washington that shocks the 
national feelings of those who visit the Rotunda of the 
Capitol at Washington, had the form and comeliness of 
one of these all but speaking statues. 

The Monument erected by King James I to the 
memory of Queen Elizabeth is the most imposing and 
costly, as it is most interesting, in other respects, to Vis- 
itors, of any in the Abbey. A full-length Likeness of 



Letters from Europe. 123 

the Queen, in her Robes, is admirably cut in brass, and 
placed in a recumbent posture upon her tomb. . The 
inscription, among other things, describes her " as the 
Mother of her Country and the patroness of religion 
and learning ; that she was herself skilled in many lan- 
guages ; adorned with every excellence of mind and 
person ; and endowed with princely virtues beyond her 
sex ; that in her reign peace was established ; money re- 
stored to its just value ; Ireland, almost lost by the secret 
contrivances of Spain, recovered ; the Spanish Armada 
defeated ; and, in short, all England enriched ; that she 
was a most prudent governess, and for forty-five years a 
virtuous and triumphant Queen," &c, &c. 

The Coronation Chairs, two of which stand in the 
Abbey, are interesting, not less for their antiquity than 
the uses to which they have been so long consecrated. 
The most ancient of these chairs was brought by King 
Edward I, with Regalia, from Scotland, in 1297. The 
other was made for Queen Mary. On Coronation occa- 
sions (which take place here) one of these chairs is 
covered with gold tissue and placed before the altar. 
These relics of ancient Monarchy, while it is evident 
that the utmost skill and taste of the artizan was be- 
stowed, show that the business of chair-making, in those 
days, was in its rudest state. 

We made an excursion to Windsor Castle the day 
before yesterday, which, unfortunately for us, chanced 
to be the only day in the week that the State apart- 
ments are closed. The view, as you approach this mag- 
nificent Palace, situated as it is upon an elevation which 
overlooks, as well the broad grounds and beautiful park 
connected with it, as the villages which dot the Land- 



124 Thurlow Weed's 

scape in the other directions, and the view of these 
objects from the Palace abundantly repay you for a 
visit, even though the rooms should be closed. This 
Castle, you know, is one of the most ancient, as well 
as the most splendid in England. It covers an area 
of thirty-one acres, and its gray walls and towers, of 
impregnable strength, are truly imposing and majestic. 
There is a Royal Cemetery within the Castle walls, in 
which the remains of the deceased members of the 
present Royal Family are deposited. 

After wandering about the Courts, Walls and Towers 
of the Castle, I strolled through the ancient town of 
Windsor, and observing the name of " Mrs. Ford " on 
a sign, my imagination went off upon a canter through 
all the pranking scenes of the " Merry Wives of Wind- 
sor," nor did it rest until it led me through " Datchet- 
dune " to the very spot upon the River where the fat 
Knight, smothered in a buck-basket, with foul linen, 
was thrown " by Ford's knaves," like a litter of blind 
kittens, into the Thames ! And in looking around I saw 
the Tree through the branches of which (according to 
Spencer, in his most happy Portrait of Sir John Fal- 
staff) a boy stood laughing as Sir John rose from his 
impure baptism, with the water dripping from his gray 
beard and scarlet vestments ! But though the tree was 
there — the boy was gone — and this broke my reverie. 

We walked from Windsor to Eton, for the purpose 
of seeing a School in which the flower and chivalry of 
England has for so many ages been prepared for 
Oxford and Cambridge. This School is I believe gov- 
erned upon Republican principles, the sons of Noblemen 
being required, as strictly as the sons of Commoners, to 



Letters from Europe. 125 

perform certain menial services for their seniors, until 
they, in turn, become entitled to the same services from 
their juniors. The school numbers over 700 pupils now. 
They were out "cricketing" in great numbers, upon the 
ample and beautiful green in the rear of the School, a 
game which they played with gi*eat spirit. 

While waiting for the Omnibus, a boy some 12 or 13 
years old came to a man standing near me, who had 
cherries and strawberries to sell. "Are your strawber- 
ries full of worms, GtARVY?" "No, my Lord." "How 
much for this pottle 1 ?" "six cents, my Lord." "Are you 
going to the Trot, Garvy?" "Yes, my Lord. Will 
your Lordship be there 1" " Yes, which horse shall I bet 
on?" "Neither, my Lord, from anything I say to your 
Lordship." This running talk was kept up until the 
boy eat his pottle of strawberries, adding a handful of 
cherries by way of dessert, and walked off, when the 
man informed me that this sprig of nobility was 
"Lord Dungannon," that title, with a large estate, having 
descended to him, I think from a deceased uncle. The 
School, added my informant, is full of the sons of 
Noblemen, but they are not all as "well-behaving and 
nice young men as my Lord Dungannon." 



126 Thurlow Weed's 



XIV. 

LONDON, July 22, 1843. 

The last intelligence from America is exerting a benign 
influence here. The improvement in American Stocks 
at home, tells well abroad. The increased disposition 
to pay, which capitalists discover, is having a salutary- 
effect. The fact that a new United States Loan was 
taken by our own people, is the occasion of much con- 
gratulation, to-day, in and about the Bank of England. 
The shock to American credit was not occasioned half 
so much by the inability of Illinois and Indiana, as 
the Repudiation of Mississippi, and the indifference of 
Pennsylvania. The insolvency of the Bank of the 
United States, and the robberies committed by the North 
American and other Trust Companies, though swallow- 
ing up millions of English capital, would have had no 
injurious effect upon our pecuniary character as a 
Nation, so long as the State Governments preserved 
their faith and asserted their integrity. Nor is the 
money we owe them wanted or required. They only 
ask that, like Bassanio, we should evince a determina- 
tion to 

" Come fairly off from the great debts 
Wherein, something too prodigal, time hath left us gaged." 

I had heard so much of the British Museum, from 
those who had seen it, and read so much about it from 
Tourists and Travelers, that I had come to regard it as 
a New York or Albany Museum, upon a large scale ; 



Letters from Europe. 127 

and went there to-day because it was one of the many 
London Lions, not expecting to be particularly inter- 
ested. Those, therefore, who have been through this 
Institution, can judge of my amazement when its won- 
ders were revealed to me. "Earth and Ocean" have 
been literally "plundered" to make up this endless 
collection of all that walks, or swims, or flies, or creeps, 
or crawls. You have here an epitome of all, and more 
than all, that Noah received into the Ark. I shall not, 
of course, be absurd enough to attempt to describe 
what I saw; but I do want to give you some inkling — 
some faint notion — of what this Empire has, by extra- 
ordinary munificence, gathered together for the gratu- 
itous instruction and gratification of Visitors. But the 
attempt will be lame and impotent, for I could not even 
procure the various catalogues short of an expense of 
forty-three pounds sterling, or $215! The catalogue 
of printed Books alone, in the Library, published by 
Longman & Co., costs £4 6s. 

There are 31 cases of "Bapacious Beasts," containing 
from one to fifty different animals of this species. 
There are thirty cases containing- " Hoofed Beasts," each 
with from five to fifty specimens, while those of the 
species too large for cases, are arranged upon the floor 
in front. There are 30 cases of "Birds of Prey," each 
containing from an hundred to an hundred and fifty 
specimens. Of this number there are over forty differ- 
ent species of the Eagle. Of "Nocturnal Birds," mostly 
of the Owl and Bat species, there are five large cases, 
and over four hundred specimens. Of other Birds, 
embracing, I should infer, every known variety, there 
are 134 cases, each containing from one hundred to 



128 Thuelow Weed's 

three hundred specimens. Of " Shells " there are forty- 
one cases upon the tables, with specimens too various 
and too numerous to be even estimated. Upon the 
Walls, over the cases, hang the portraits of 116 Mon- 
archs, Noblemen, Artists, or persons distinguished for 
their learning or virtue, all by eminent artists, among 
which are two fine Pictures of Cromwell, two of Mary 
Queen of Scots, Queen Elizabeth, Sir Hans Sloane, Sir 
Isaac Newton, Martin Luther, &c, &c. 

In another Gallery are 19 cases, containing more 
than a thousand specimens of " Reptiles. " There are also 
22 cases filled with " Handed Beasts," embracing every 
species of Ape,- Monkey and Baboon, of which there 
are between two and three hundred. There is such an 
approximation between the highest order of this tribe, 
and the lowest species of the human race, that the organ 
of speech is alone wanting to form a connecting link. 
The Finny Tribe, in all their varieties, are arranged in 
cases which fill a gallery an hundred feet long. Eng- 
land, you know, abounds in Minerals, minute and beau- 
tiful specimens of which are displayed here. Sixty 
cases are devoted to Mineralogical collections, arranged 
in the same manner as in our State Geological Museum. 
This collection, however, in several respects, is not as 
complete as that obtained by our indefatigable Geolo- 
gists. There are 1,105 different specimens of minerals, 
with labels describing their properties. 

But the Gallery of Antiquities attracts most attention, 
and excites the highest admiration. I had only an hour 
where days would not suffice. Two large Galleries are 
filled with ancient Greek and Roman statuary. Among 
these is a bust of Trajan, a head of Apollo, a statue of 



Letters from Europe. 129 

Thalia, a head of Marcus Aurelius, heads of Paris and 
Helen, a group of Bacchanalians, a bust of Severus, a 
head of Nero, a bust of Marcellus, with an inscription, 
Priam supplicating Achilles to deliver to him the body 
of Hector, Hercules, with a club, sitting upon a rock, 
&c, &c. There are four more spacious Galleries devoted 
to Greek and Roman sculptures, and two others to 
British Antiquities. These Galleries contain many 
thousand curious specimens of the Arts, when the world, 
many centuies past, was peopled by a now buried race 
of semi-barbarians. 

I have, in this hasty, imperfect glance, passed without 
notice half a dozen Galleries, each containing innu- 
merable objects of exceeding interest. The Galleries 
vary in length from one to three hundred feet. 

And now, when enough to amaze and bewilder has 
been seen, the great treasure-house of Learning and 
Knowledge was opened to us. The Library of the 
Museum is only shown to visitors who obtain an order 
from a trustee or a letter to its most indefatigable libra- 
rian, the Rev. Dr. Horner, who has devoted 17 years, 
not to the reading, but to the arrangement and classi- 
fication of the Books. We attempted nothing, of course, 
but to walk through this long vista, walled up on either 
side with volumes. The Librarian, to whom we had a 
letter from Mr. Wiggin, gave his time to us until we 
had gone quite through his vast literary domain. The 
books are placed on shelves in Galleries thirty feet high, 
access to which is by stairs to the room of iron balus- 
trades. I know not how to give you an idea of the 
extent of this Library better than to say that there are 

shelves filled with books, on both sides of the room, 
17 



130 Thurlow Weed's 

thirty feet between the floor and the ceiling, extending 
at least a quarter of a mile. One of these, from 80 to 
100 feet long, contains the Library of Sir Joseph Banks, 
which he bequeathed to the Museum. Another, still 
larger, contains the Library of George III, many 
of the works in which cost from one to three hundred 
pounds a volume. There is one Gallery three hundred 
feet in length. The apartment for Ancient Manuscript is 
from forty to fifty feet square, in which we were shown 
exceedingly well preserved volumes of Manuscripts a 
thousand years old. The books in this Library, if 
placed, as they stand upon the shelves, upon the ground, 
would, I should think, cover an area of more than two 
acres. The number of volumes is not exactly known, 
the catalogues being yet incomplete, but Dr. Horner 
informed us that there were at least three hundred 
thousand ! 

The British Museum was founded in 1753, by Sir 
Hans Sloane, an eminent Physician, who bequeathed 
a valuable Library of Books and Manuscripts, and an 
extensive collection of works of Art and objects in Nat- 
ural History. Its accessions have been by donations 
or bequests from enlightened individuals, liberally aided 
by Parliamentary endowment. There were 547,415 vis- 
itors to the British Museum in 1842. 

Prom the Museum we repaired to the National Gal- 
lery, where the eye and the imagination wander and 
wonder, with constantly increasing admiration and emo- 
tion at the excellence and power of art and genius. 
Here are the efforts of the great Masters, ancient and 
modem. Here are the productions of Claude, Titian, 
Corregio, Michael Angelo, Guido, Murillo, Raphael, 



Letters feom Europe. 131 

Rubens, Rembrandt, Vandyke, Salvator Rosa; and of 
Sir Joshua Reynolds, Hogarth, Copley, Wilkie, Sir 
Thomas Lawrence, Benjamin West, Beaumont, and a 
host of other Artists, less known, but of great merit. 
The Pictures upon which I dwelt with most interest 
were West's truly divine representation of "Christ 
Healing the Sick," Murillo's "Holy Family," and "The 
Infant St. John, with the Lamb," than which it seems 
impossible for brush and canvas to accomplish more. 
Connected with the National Gallery is the Exhi- 
bition of the Royal Academy, through which we were 
forced to pass in a single hour. Here no Paintings are 
admitted that have been before publicly exhibited, and 
originals only are received. The Academy now contains 
1,385 Paintings, by more than 400 different Artists. 
There are, also, over two hundred works in Sculp ture, 
by some 70 different Artists. Among the Pictures is a 
splendid one by C. R. Leslie, of the Queen receiving 
the Sacrament, as a concluding part of the Coronation, 
attended by the Royal retinue, all full lengths, and 
judging from the Portraits of the Duke of Wellington 
and Lord Morpeth, whom I have seen, all admirable 
likenesses. There is a striking Picture by Ward, of 
Dr. Johnson perusing the manuscript of Goldsmith's 
Vicar of Wakefield ; and a beautiful illustration, by 
W. Cope, of that scene in Burns' "Cotter's Saturday 
Night," where : — 

"But hark! a rap comes gently at the door; 
Jenny, wha kens the meaning o' the same, 
Tells how a neebor lad cam o'e the moor, 
To do some errands, and convey her hame." 

There is, too, a glorious group by Claxton, entitled 
" Sir Joshua Reynolds and his Friends." These 



132 Thurlow Weed's 

"Friends," of whom there are admirable full length 
portraits, are no less personages than Edmund Burke, 
Horace Walpole, Dr. Mudge, Benjamin West, Sir W. 
Chambers, Sir Geo. Beaumont, Alderman Beydell, 
Lord Mulgrave, Sir Wm. Hamilton, David Gaerick, 
Richard Cumberland, Admiral Keppell, Jas. Boswell, 
Lord Burgherzh, Dr. Johnson, with Mrs. Montague, 
Mrs. Siddons, Marchioness Thormond (Sir J. R.'s 
niece), Mrs. Cholmondeley, Angelica Kauffman, Mrs. 
Thrale and Fanny Burney ! 

We went to Chelsea, where you know the Hospital 
for old and disabled Soldiers is situated, on Sunday, 
and after the Church service was over, we were allowed, 
and indeed invited by the old Veterans (many of whom 
went stumping it along with wooden legs) to walk 
through their apartment. Here are admirable quarters 
for men who have worn themselves out in the Annies 
of England, but the Hospital is far less extensive than 
that for old Sailors at Greenwich, and but very few of 
the tens of thousands who are "broken and bruised" in 
battle ever find their way to Chelsea. We saw the 
Pensioners at Dinner, which was excellent in quality, 
and profuse in quantity. They all speak with strong 
feelings of gratitude of their enjoyments and luxuries. 
Most of the Pensioners here have gone through the 
Peninsular wars. I talked for some time with one who 
was at Corunna with Sir John Moore. There were, 
they said, two or three Pensioners among them who 
were in Canada during our late war with England, but 
I did not find them. They invariably and voluntarily 
spoke with strong and indignant abhorrence of the 
Duke of Wellington, who it seems, though I was not 



Letters from Europe. 133 

aware of it, when Premier, endeavored to break up and 
discontinue the Chelsea Hospital. I do not know what 
his motives or reasons were, but if he designed to cast 
these war-worn Veterans, who dealt and received the 
hard blows which secured Mm Fame and Fortune, upon 
the cold world, homeless and houseless, there is a refine- 
ment of cruelty and ingratitude in his nature that should 
cause the present generation to detest his character, and 
posterity to loathe his memory. 

The Dining-Hall of Chelsea Hospital is hung with 
trophy Colors and Standards, from the Duke of Marl- 
borough's victorious battle of Blenheim, to the inglo- 
rious butcheries of the British Army in China. Among 
these emblems of British valor, are the sanguinary evi- 
dences that England has been at war with almost all the 
Nations of the Earth. There are three stands of 
American Colors displayed in this Hall. One was taken 
at Washington. I could not learn the history of the other 
two, but an old Veteran who heard me inquiring, came 
tip and remarked that he had heard a Pensioner who 
was in the fight when one of them was taken, say — 
" that Yankee Eagle cost more British blood than any other 
Stand of Colors in the Hall." There is nothing very 
mortifying in seeing two or three captive American 
Eagles, with "E pluribus Unum" in a scroll suspended 
from then talons, provided there is neither dishonor 
nor cowardice united with their capture. And if it 
were otherwise, I should be indemnified by the reflec- 
tion that in the way of trophies, we can display ten 
times the number of British Colors, Flags, Cannon and 
Ships-of-War, as evidences of American valor and 
prowess. 



134 Thuklow Weed's 

I have had but little leisure, and no facilities but such 
as are open to all, for obtaining political information 
here. I infer, however, from the course of the debates 
in Parliament, and, from the newspapers, that the power 
of the Tory Ministry is upon the wane. The Whig 
Peers and press evidently feel stronger, and some old 
rats who retreated in the flush of Sir Eobert Peel's tri- 
umph, now begin to put their heads cautiously out of 
their holes. If, as I apprehend, the faculties of the 
Duke of Wellington are failing him, not only the Tory 
Administration, but the British Empire must be prepared 
for a tremendous shock. With him crumbles one of 
the main pillars that uphold this gigantic structure. 
He has been a Tower of strength to England not only 
in the Field but in the Cabinet. 



Letters from Europe. 135 



XV. 

LONDON, July 25, 1843. 

Having failed to get into the House of Commons 
immediately after our arrival here, during the some- 
what exciting debate upon the Irish Arms bill, I delayed 
my visit several days, in the hope that some other ques- 
tion of interest would elicit a debate. But as nothing 
sprang up in that way, I went the other evening, and 
was shown into the Speaker's Gallery, by the Hon. Mr. 
Thornley, an intelligent, practical member from Wol- 
verhampton, to -whom I had a letter of introduction from 
his mercantile friend Mr. H. L. Webb. Mr. T. remarked 
that the sitting would be a very dull one, and advised 
me to go into the gallery of the other House, but in 
repairing thither for the purpose of procuring my admis- 
sion, we found that " the Lords were up," as is their 
term for an Adjournment. I therefore returned to the 
Commons. 

Parliament sits, you know, in a wing adjoining 
Westminster Hall, where the higher Courts hold then- 
sittings. The sessions commence, or to use our own 
terms, the Houses meet at 5. o'clock p. m. As you 
approach the Hall, and especially if the Lords are in 
session, you see thirty, forty, and sometimes fifty grooms 
mounted (and in livery of course), holding saddled 
horses in readiness for the members, who generally, like 
John Randolph, go and return to and from Parliament 



136 Thuelow "Weed's 

in this manner. If you are a stranger, Porters very 
civilly conduct you to the entrance, for which service 
they look for a penny. Here an individual receives 
your umbrella, overcoat, cane, &c, for taking care of 
which, when you return, he of course expects a gratuity. 
You then pass through a long narrow corridor into an 
anteroom, where, if you want to see a member, your 
card is handed to a door-keeper with gown and wig, 
who transmits it without leaving his post, through some 
"hole in the wall," to the member, who obtains a 
Speaker's order, and ushers you into the Gallery. 
And here, instead of the magnificent Hall, the brilliant 
Chandelier, and the grave, dignified and eloquent Rep- 
resentatives of the United Kingdoms of England, 
Scotland and Ireland, you find yourself in a long nar- 
row " ball-room," with rows of benches and settees cov- 
ered with green baize, and occupied (when I went in) 
by some fifty or sixty garrulous gentlemen huddled 
together and gabbling with as little regard to sense as 
order. Of what was said, except " hear," " hear," " hear," 
by at least a dozen voices, I could for a long time under- 
stand little ; but finally, one persevering gentleman's 
voice was distinguished above the " hear," " hear," 
" hear," who spoke an " infinite deal of nothing," with- 
out, however, my being able to detect the " kernel of 
wheat " in his " bushel of chaff." There are no chairs 
or desks for members, who, when they speak, collect 
round a table, upon which they lean with one hand, 
while they hold their hats in the other. The members 
sit with their hats on and their legs up a la Trollope. 
Many of them sleep very soundly ; and one member- 
gave this as an excuse a few days since, in the London 



Letters from Europe. 137 

papers, for having voted wrong. I remained here two 
hours without seeing or hearing anything that raised 
these members of the British House of Commons to an 
intellectual equality with a Board of Supervisors in the 
counties of Washington, Cayuga, Tompkins, Ontario, 
Monroe, Livingston, Genesee, Erie, Niagara, Chautauque, 
&c, &c. 

The House of Lords, though presenting the same 
architectural aspect, was intellectually dignified, ele- 
vated and imposing. In my visit here I had the good 
fortune to hear Lords Brougham and Aberdeen, the 
Duke of "Wellington, the Marquis of Lansdowne, Earls 
Stanhope and Monteagle, and several other Peers of 
less consideration. Of Lord Brougham I only heard 
enough to make me exceedingly desirous to hear more. 
He is a truly great man, whose voice and manner, 
instead of being harsh and stiff, as I had been led to 
suppose, are clear and graceful. Lord Aberdeen is evi- 
dently an enlightened statesman. He spoke for some 
time in relation to former Treaties with France and 
America in a way evincive of his thorough knowledge 
of the Diplomatic history of England. His manner is 
calm and impressive — his language simple but effect- 
ive. The Duke of Wellington, who had been sitting 
for an hour dozing, when called out, spoke feebly and 
seems physically if not mentally broken. Earl Stan- 
hope, who seems much of a man of business, in person, 
face and features, is strikingly like Charles J. Inger- 
soll, of Philadelphia. 

The " Gallery " of the House of Lords is a small 
apartment or " dock " separated from its Lobby, and 
elevated three steps above the floor of the House, where 

18 



138 Thuelow Weed's 

some twenty -five or thirty persons can stand up — many 
must stand, for there are no seats. I met Mr. Leavitt, 
of the Emancipator, and Gen. Ward, of Westchester, 
there. 

The new Parliament House, now in the progress of 
construction, on the brink of the Thames, near West- 
minster Bridge, is a most costly and magnificent pile. 
This edifice, in magnitude and munificence, is in keep- 
ing with the other architectural illustrations of Royalty 
in and about London. It was in reference to the pro- 
posed interior adornment of the new Parliament House, 
at a startling expense, that I heard Lord Brougham 
speak the other night. 

I quite forgot to say, in the proper place, that the 
King of Hanover, who is a son, you know, of George 
III, came into the House of Lords while I was 
there. As he passed me, with his upper lip stuck full 
of coarse bristles, I wondered what " Boar of Ardennes" 
he could be ; and was not at all surprised, afterwards, 
when informed that this was the King of Hanover ; a 
man whose gross nature and beastly propensities, were 
they not ennobled, would cast him without the pale of 
society. 

England has, as she needs, a strong Government, for 
the support of which she pays roundly. There is much 
here, of what I have discovered something in America. 
The individual who, by a dispensation of Providence 
rather than the voice of the People, is now adminis- 
tering our Government, enjoys neither the confidence 
nor respect of any considerable number of his country- 
men ; and out of " respect of the office " he holds, when 
he travels, he is received with demonstrations of appar- 



Letters from Europe. 139 

ent confidence and regard. Here the principle is car- 
ried farther. The public eye and ear are blind and 
deaf to the infirmities and vices of Royalty. This 
remark, however, has no reference to the present Mon- 
arch, whose own life is not only blameless, but who is 
surrounded by persons of better character than are 
usually found breathing a court atmosphere. But the 
strength of the British Government, with its own sub- 
jects, consists much more in their reverence for and 
devotion to Royalty, than in cannon or bayonets, pow- 
der or ball. And it is for this reason that Palaces are 
built for Kings and Queens, and that Princes and Prin- 
cesses are ostentatiously born and luxuriously reared. It 
is for this reason, also, that immense sums are lavished 
upon a Royal Family. Royalty, surrounded by all that 
wealth can purchase, inspires the multitude with awe, if 
not with respect and affection. Indeed there are few, 
if any, deformities which may not be concealed by jew- 
els and diamonds. But I am wandering far away from 
a few simple figures (not of speech) that I intended to 
furnish. Let me give a single item (the Queen's Civil 
List) of the Parliamentary appropriation, in 1843, for 
the support of John Bull's Government : 

" The Queen's Privy Purse, £60,000 ; Royal House- 
hold Salaries, £131,260 ; Tradesmen's bills, £172,500 ; 
Royal Bounty Alms, £13,200 ; Unappropriated, £8,000 ; 
Duke of Cumberland (who is King of Hanover), £21,- 
000 ; Duke of Cambridge, £27,000 ; Duchess of Glou- 
cester, £16,000 ; Queen Adelaide, £100,000; Duchess 
of Kent, £30,000 ; Prince Albert, £30,000 ; King Leo- 
pold, £50,000," making in all over £700,000, or $3,500,- 
000 annually, for the support of the Royal Family. 



140 Thurlow Weed's 

I was recently expressing my surprise to an English 
gentleman, that London should be so comparatively 
exempted from crime and disorder. I say compara- 
tively, because you see and hear of more burglaries and 
more violence in New York than in this great Babylon. 
He replied that the principal cause for this was in the cir- 
cumstance that a law-breaker, when convicted, was 
transported, and did not return, as with us, to commit 
second offenses. Another reason for their security, he 
very frankly admitted, was that they had shipped off 
great numbers of their rascals to America. Persons 
from all parts of England, of dissolute character, who 
had entered or were entering upon a career of depreda- 
tion, were first sent to the Workhouses, and from thence 
to America, their passages being paid by the Authorities. 
But more than all, London is indebted for the quiet and 
good order that pervades, to the excellence of its Police. 
There is a body of Policemen here who are schooled 
and disciplined to their duty ; and they discharge that 
duty with equal discretion and fidelity. By their tact and 
good temper, they prevent ten tumults where they have 
occasion to suppress one. The moment you see or hear 
anything that looks like a collision or outbreak, a 
Policeman steps in, not with a bludgeon to enforce phy- 
sical arguments, but as a Peacemaker ; and in no 
instance that has fallen under my observation, has their 
oil failed to quiet the troubled waters. Nor do they 
drag people indiscriminately to the Watch house. Last 
evening, passing along Fleet street, I saw a row in a 
narrow court which instantly collected a crowd. Two 
Policemen came, when it appeared that two women, 
each with an infant, were pulling caps and hair most 



Letters from Europe. 141 

furiously. The Policemen interfered, but the Tigresses 
were lost to all but a thirst for revenge. The efforts of 
the Policemen were totally disregarded, until they sep- 
arated and held the termagants by force. After the 
"whirlwind of- their passion " had subsided, instead of 
hurrying these poor creatures off to the Watch house, the 
Policemen calmly advised them to go home and take 
care of their children, which with tears and thanks, they 
promised to do. On another occasion, when passing 
along Farringdon street with the " full tide of human ex- 
istence," a man near me had his board jostled from his 
head, and his entire stock of potter's Nelsons, Well- 
ingtons, Victorias, &c, dashed in pieces upon the 
sidewalk. A rush, hurried words, and a fight, followed 
with electric rapidity. The Policemen were soon within 
the ring, and the combatants drew off to parley. Some 
charged that the board was knocked off the man's head 
by design. The accused party and their champions 
protested their innocence ; and the result was, that after 
explanations and statements, all parties agreed to con- 
tribute something for the sufferer, instead of pummel- 
ing each other. This amicable and equitable adjustment 
of a difficulty was effected by the good sense and kind- 
ness of Policemen, at a moment when a different course 
would have been very likely to have produced a serious 
outbreak, for it was a case well calculated to excite pop- 
ular passions. 

The London Policemen deserve the thanks of stran- 
gers for their uniformly polite and civil attentions. To 
these oral guides I am indebted for much information. 
They seem to take pleasure in imparting to others their 
familiar knowledge of London. They give courteous 



142 Thuelow "Weed's 

answers to all your questions. They will direct you to 
any part of the city you desire to go, and indicate the 
shortest routes and the best modes of conveyance. 
These men seem to have been selected with a proper 
regard to their intelligence, sobriety, discretion and 
good temper. I have remarked, in a former Letter, 
upon the gentlemanly conduct and bearing, and the 
fine appearance of this class of men in Ireland. The 
Policemen, here, as in Ireland, dress in uniform blue 
coats and pantaloons, with white facings and the num- 
ber of their stations upon the stand-up collars of their 
coats. 

An American gentleman to whom I expressed my 
surprise at the absence, in London, of the uproarious, 
dram-drinking dens which infest New York, told me I 
had not seen " Life in London' yet, and proposed to 
conduct me that evening to some of the " Gin Shops " 
in High Holborn and Drury Lane, which according to 
his account, outstrips the " Five Points," except that 
they have no Negro vagabonds, and therefore cannot 
mix colors as well as liquors. But as one of my "walk- 
ing-beams" is not in a condition for hard service, I was 
forced to deny myself the amusement and instruction 
to be derived from a round of visits to the London 
" Gin Shops." 



Lettees from Europe. 143 



XVI. 

BRISTOL, July 27, 1843. 

We left London after breakfast this morning, by the 
Great Western Railway, and in four hours and a half 
were set down at the " White Lion," in this place. The 
distance is 118 miles. We came, some part of the way, 
at the rate of a mile in a minute and sixteen seconds, 
and two miles were whistled off, on a descending grade, 
in two minutes and twenty-four seconds. Traveling at 
this top speed, I could see but little and learn less of 
the country through which we passed. Windsor Castle 
loomed up with its massive walls and towers, as we 
passed within two miles of this Royal Fortress. The 
country for the first forty miles, along the windings of 
the river Thames, presents the same highly cultivated 
fields, verdant lawns and beautiful landscapes that I 
have spoken of in former Letters. Farther on it begins 
to undulate and becomes less extensively cultivated. 
Our route was through Slough, Maidenhead, Reading, 
Thatcham, Newbury, Hungerford, Marlborough, Swin- 
ton, Chippenham and Bath. Chippenham has a most 
imperturbable appearance of Antiquity. Its buildings 
are in a cluster, apparently for mutual support, for I 
can conceive of no other motive for such excessive 
neighborhood intimacy where there is " ample room and 
verge enough ;" and altogether it is an old, bald, gray- 
headed town. 



144 Thurlow Weed's 

Bath, you know, was once, and during the most gay 
and dashing Reigns, the fashionable watering place of 
England. But here, Fashion follows Royalty. Every- 
thing depends upon the patronage of Princes. The 
smile or the frown of Majesty makes or mars the for- 
tunes of those who reside in Watering Places. The 
glory of Bath was first, I believe, eclipsed by Brighton ; 
and now, though Brighton struggles hard to maintain its 
supremacy, the sun of Fashion shines brightest at Chel- 
tenham. 

In 1831 Bath had a population of 50,000, dependent 
mainly upon visitors for their support. The Baths are 
owned by the city corporation, and have produced, in 
the best years, from a thousand to fifteen hundred 
pounds sterling. The price of a Bath is 2s. 6d. The 
Baths are supplied by springs which furnish some 
twenty gallons per minute at a temperature of 114 
degrees. The water from the " Hot Bath " is at a tem- 
perature of 117 degrees Fahrenheit. Bath is very 
ancient. It has a tradition which claims Bladud, King 
of Britain, 680 years B. C, as its founder, in gratitude for 
his recovery, by its waters, from a Leprosy. The heal- 
ing virtues of Bath water were known to the Romans, and 
it was the site of one of the early monasteries. The 
city is situated in a narrow valley upon the river Avon 
(not Shakspeare's Avon), surrounded by an amphi- 
theatre of hills, which, looking down upon its bright 
terraces and dingy streets, presents a scene of much 
beauty. 

I have passed a day of much interest in Bristol, a 
place which in its construction contains as much that is 
curious of Antiquity as there is imposing and beautiful 



Letters from Europe. 145 

in modern architecture. Perhaps it contains more of 
the Mendings of the past with the present than any 
other town in England. It is situated upon two rivers 
(the Avon and Frome) and in two counties (Gloucester- 
shire and Somersetshire), and claims territorial juris- 
diction over respective parts of each. Its people, in 
1831, numbered 117,016. Its public edifices (among 
which are numerous free schools and charitable institu- 
tions), not less than its terraces of splendid mansions, 
are indications of wealth and munificence. The church 
of St. Mary, erected in 1346, is a noble structure. Its 
tower contains some good pictures by Hogarth and 
Tresham. There is among the monuments in this 
church, one to the memory of Sir William Penn, the 
father of our William Penn. 

The Great Western Railway terminates at Bristol. 
There have been so many accounts of this great work 
published recently in America that I need not repeat 
them. Its Tunnel through Boxhill, one mile and three 
quarters in length, and a part of the way four hundred 
feet below the surface of the earth, was a gigantic 
undertaking. The train dashes through this dark, cold 
cavern-way without any abatement of speed. There 
are twelve regular Passenger Trains over this Railway, 
daily, between London and Bristol. The fare in first 
class cars, is two pound sis (for 118 miles), or $11.50. 
In the 2d class, it is one pound one. The day that 
Prince Albert came down to see the Great Britain 
launched, the receipts for Passengers amounted to 
twelve thousand pounds. I had heard much about the 
Railways in England having increased their receipts by 
cheap fares ; but I find that these prices are only cheap 



146 Thuklow Weed's 

in comparison with their own more exorbitant rates. 
The cheapest fare here is higher than the largest sums 
fixed for Passengers over American Railroads. 

I have been around, on board, and all through the 
steamer Great Britain, now riding with her six tall, 
slender masts and her enormous hull, in the British Docks. 
She is indeed a marine monster. All descriptions fail to 
convey adequate conceptions of her vastness. Prepare 
yourselves, therefore, if she reaches New York, for a 
surprise. Her model is fine, and as far as I can judge, 
her proportions are good. If a vessel can ride on two 
waves instead of one, she may answer, but to my eye she 
seems too long, when her head goes down with one 
wave, to recover before the next breaks over her. But 
my judgment in such matters is good for nothing in 
comparison with those who ought to know. I am told 
that Capt. Hosken, who is to command her, has great 
confidence that she will take to her element kindly. 
She is to be propelled by an Archimedian Screw 
attached to her stern. This contrivance looks wholly 
inadequate for moving such a monster, and I shall cer- 
tainly be disappointed if in this respect there is not a 
signal failure. The Great Britain is 223 feet long, 50 
feet in breadth, 33 feet deep. She has 26 State Rooms 
with one bed, and 123 with two beds ; and has an 
Engine of 1,000-horse power. She is expected to leave 
for New York early in September. 

You have a commanding view of Bristol from Clif- 
ton Hill, where the Aristocracy reside in much splendor. 
From this eminence, too, you overlook a vast extent of 
highly cultivated rolling country. We stopped, while 
here, to see a Florentine Anatomical preparation, in wax, 



Letters from Europe. 147 

which is represented as being more perfect than any 
other in existence. Here the mechanism of the human 
system is wonderfully revealed. Every formation of 
life is minutely displayed. To the medical profession 
such a subject, for illustration, must be immensely val- 
uable. 

We intended to have gone from Bristol through 
Wales to Holyhead, but found more difficulty than was 
apprehended in obtaining a conveyance, our party hav- 
ing been enlarged at London, where we were joined by 
the Rev. Mr. Pinckney, of South Carolina, Mr. Newton 
(son of Mr. Isaac Newton, of New York), and Edwin 
Burr, Esq., also of New York. Coach and Hotel Pro- 
prietors here, are frequently identical ; and they have 
what would be called in America, " a Yankee trick " of 
despatching their coaches a few hours before the arrival 
of Railway trains and Steamers, which causes a deten- 
tion over night. Nor can a party of seven or eight 
rely with any confidence upon obtaining seats in the 
same coach, or even on the same day. And what seemed 
strange to us, the " Booking Office " Agent could give 
no information about the hours of departure for coaches 
beyond his own terminus, at Hereford ; nor did he, 
though he had been for years at the desk, know the dis- 
tance to Holyhead ! In this dilemma, it was thought 

best to separate temporarily, and L , W and 

myself, who are more or less of invalids, take the steamer 
direct for Dublin, leaving the other gentlemen to " rough 
it " through Wales, where the " Rebeccaites " are sim- 
plifying and facilitating travel by the demolition of 
Pike Gates. 

We were subjected here to one of those annoyances 



148 Thurlow Weed's 

of which travelers, with or without reason, are so 
accustomed to complain. Our " White Lion," if not 
particularly distinguished for the excellence of his 
cheer, is a rampant fellow in his charges. We dined 
indifferently well, were lodged in dark rooms, and had 
unsettled coffee for breakfast, for which we each paid 
$2.75. This, however, was but the commencement of 
the exactions, for the " Chambermaid " desired to be 
" remembered " 25 cents worth, the " Waiter " solicited 
a similar remembrance, the " Porter" commended him- 
self to our regards for the same amount, and " Boots " 
preferred his claims to our affections for 12^ cents, 
though in the case of two of the party he had forgotten 
to exercise his polishing functions. 

Steam Packet Shamrock, Bristol, July 28. 

We left Bristol this morning at half-past 7, locking 
out of the Docks behind six other Steamers, bound for 
different Ports, either on the English coast or across the 
Channel to Ireland. Before we got under way a dozen 
Schooners and Brigs were locked out of the other 
Docks, and passed down the River in tow of Steam 
Tugs. This River, from Bristol to the Channel, is in 
some places scarcely wider than our Enlarged Canals, 
but with water sufficient, when the tide is in, for Ships 
of the largest class. There is an unfinished Suspension 
Bridge over it, extending from Clifton Hill to a lofty 
eminence on the opposite bank. Persons cross over 
now in a basket attached to ropes, from which, to the 
water is some 300 feet. Upon the Clifton side of the 
River, and adjoining the Bridge Tower, is the Zoological 
Garden, in which I saw gay groups enjoying them- 



Letters from Europe. 149 

selves yesterday. Among the sports was a Donkey 
Course, where children, instead of "mewling in their 
nurses' arms," were galloped through a quarter of a mile 
heat in wicker saddle. " Children of a larger growth," 
up to eight or ten years, had their Donkeys too, and all, 
boys and girls, dashed laughingly through, the Don- 
keys—patient and obedient creatures as they are — 
requiring no guides and taking instinctive care of 
their infantile riders. 

The distance from Bristol to Dublin is 200 miles. 
The Steamer performs her trips in 24 hours. The Fare 
is $10. It was quite calm when we entered the Chan- 
nel, but the wind freshened so much that at Dinner the 
Captain took the head of his Table, but no Passengers 
made their appearance. The steward was despatched to 
invite gentlemen personally, but still the Seats at Table 
were vacated. I was not Sea-Sick, but had no appetite 
for Dinner. We ran, all the afternoon, along the 
rugged, rock-bound Coast of Pembrokeshire, in Wales, 
with a wind that teaches how terrible a lee shore is 
to the Shipwrecked Mariner. At midnight the wind 
lulled — at daylight all was calm, and we were within 
twenty miles of the broad and beautiful Bay of Dublin. 

Dublin, July 29. 

We are detained here for the friends who went by 
Coach through Wales ; but it is no hardship to pass a 
day or two in Dublin. Your only cause of regret here, 
is that a City with every element of prosperity within 
and around it, should exhibit nothing but the perishing 
Monuments of its Manufactures and its Commerce. 
Here is a population as intelligent, as enterprising, as 



150 Thurlow "Weed's 

industrious, as patriotic and as virtuous, as any that 
lives ; and yet their canvas is scarcely seen upon the 
Atlantic; their looms and shuttles stand still; you 
neither hear the hammers click nor see the anvil spark ; 
the Mariner lingers despondingly about the Quays ; 
the Mechanic seeks in vain for employment ; the Shop- 
man sits listlessly behind his deserted counter; and 
the Agriculturist, though he causes the bountiful earth 
to bring forth its gifts, sees the fruits and the fatlings 
of his toil and his care rapaciously devoured by his 
oppressors. 

Who, therefore, in view of these wrongs, and with a 
knowledge of the causes that produce them, can fail to 
"sympathize" keenly with Irishmen'? And above all, 
what American who remembers the generous alacrity 
with which Irishmen shed their blood in the two Wars 
we have been compelled to wage for the achievement 
and maintenance of our National existence, can with- 
hold his Prayers for the disinthrallment of Ireland 1 It 
is consoling to see and to know, as I do, that the cause 
of Repeal is acquiring a moral power and energy that 
will tell with prodigious effect upon those who pre- 
sumptuously threaten to put it down by force ! 

The hands and hearts of the Repealers here are 
strengthened and cheered by the auxiliary movements 
of their friends in America. Nor are these movements 
without their effect upon the Tory Ministry. This is 
not the age for ascertaining the rights either of Nations 
or of individuals by brute power. We live in an illu- 
minated era, when even Monarchs are held amenable 
to the principles of justice, and are compelled to be 



Lettees from Eueope. 151 

guided by the light of truth and swayed by the force 
of enlightened opinion. 

My blood has been stirred and my spirit refreshed, 
to-day, by the reading of Mr. Webster's second Bunker 
Hill Oration. Such a theme was worthy of such 
an Orator. The man was made for the occasion. 
What a power of conjuration Mr. Webster exerts over 
language ! How he makes the simplest words express 
the sublimest thoughts ! Who else could imbue sen- 
tences so unambitiously constructed, with every element 
and attribute of eloquence and poetry 1 



152 Thurlow Weed's 



XVII. 

BELFAST, August 3, 1843. 

We left Dublin with an American party six strong, 
in the Royal Mail Coach for this place. The distance 
is 80 Irish or about 100 American miles, which was 
driven in 12 hours. The suburbs of Dublin, in this 
direction, are less beautiful, and exhibit a population 
less comfortably housed than in other quarters. Ash- 
bourne, a new village, is the first place for changing 
horses. Here is an ancient Tower in good repair. 

The next point of interest is Drogheda, a town 
situated on the river Boyne, with a population of more 
than 20,000, whose annals are replete with stirring 
events. After a gallant resistance in 16-41, its defenders 
were finally overpowered and put to the sword by 
Cromwell's Army. Here is an obelisk commemorating 
King William's victory in 1690. This place abounds 
in Antiquities, among which is a Priory erected by 
King Richard II ; an Augustine Abbey ; a Castle once 
inhabited by the Archbishop of Armagh ; the remains 
of Monasterborie Abbey, &c, &c. There are several 
fine modern structures, among which is St. Peter's 
church and spire, of hewn stone ; the Linen Hall, Corn 
Market, Barracks, Hospital, &c. The general aspect of 
the town, however, is anything but pleasant. It pre- 
sents no indications of prosperity. Its population, to a 



Letters from Europe. 153 

great extent, are evidently unemployed, and there is 
consequently a corresponding amount of destitution and 
suffering. The Harbor and Bay of Drogheda, extend- 
ing some two or three miles from the Irish Sea, are 
vainly inviting the trade and commerce for which the 
town and its inhabitants are languishing. There is a 
deep and strong Repeal sentiment at Drogheda, which, 
for the present, keeps hope alive, but when these hopes 
are blasted, should that unfortunately happen, desperate 
men, with hungry wives and children, will do desperate 
things. 

Dundalk is a fine town with several spacious public 
buildings, and is surrounded with rich fields and parks, 
but is not otherwise interesting. There is a field here, 
and hereabouts, for the benevolent labors of Father 
Mathew. 

Newry is a pleasant, bustling, active, manufacturing 
town, enjoying a very good coasting trade. A canal, 
navigable for vessels of 150 to 200 tons, passes from 
Carlingford Bay through the town. The descent from 
the Dublin road into Newry is by a steep hill, from 
which you have a delightful view of the Town and 
Bay. It is refreshing to find, in oppressed Ireland, 
here and there a spot where the evidences of compara- 
tive prosperity and happiness exist. The Abbey of 
Newry was founded in the 12th century by Mac Laugh- 
LIN, and endowed by Hugh de Lacy. Newry contains 
over 10,000 inhabitants. This being market day, a 
large number of the peasantry had assembled, in whose 
dress, countenance and manner, were agreeable indica- 
tions of the improved condition and increased comforts 
of the People of the North of Ireland, where something 

20 



154 Thuelow Weed's 

more of the advantages of trade and manufactures are 
engaged. 

After passing Banbeidge, a pleasant town in the 
county Down, you come into the Flax-growing part of 
Ireland. Here, for some thirty miles, luxuriant Flax 
fields, the pulling of which has just commenced, meet 
the eye in every direction. Every tenant has his patch 
of Flax, some containing a quarter, some half, and 
others three-quarters of an acre, while the Faemee 
rejoices in fields of Flax containing, in some instances, 
from ten to fifteen acres. Along here you see better 
dressed women, in cleaner cabins, and in many instances, 
neat cottages, feeding the spindle or plying the shuttle. 

Hillsboeough is a pretty town, surrounded by an 
industrious and thrifty agricultural population, whose 
neat, white-washed stone cottages present an aspect of 
cheerfulness and comfort seldom found in Ireland, 
much of which is attributed to the liberality of Lord 
Downshiee, a wealthy Nobleman, who, in various ways, 
gives encouragement to industry, extends patronage to 
enterprise, and manifests a laudable solicitude for the 
welfare of his tenants. The Park, Castle and broad 
Domain of Lord Downshiee, each furnishing evidence 
of great wealth, are in full view from the road. 

Next to Hillsborough comes Lisbuen, in Antrim, 
known abroad by the excellence of its Damasks, which 
are fabricated here in great quantities. Its Cambric 
and Muslin fabrics are always in much request. The 
view north from Lisburn is bold and picturesque. Be- 
yond a rich valley, commences an elevation which rises 
for several miles, and terminates in a high mountain, 
extending as far as the eye can reach, and under the 



Letters from Europe. 155 

shoulder of which Belfast is situated. These moun- 
tains would resenihle some of the bald ones in New 
Hampshire, except that upon every patch of soil, wheat, 
or oats, or barley, or rye, are seen waving. 

From Lisburn it is but seven miles to Belfast, a 
place which bears so strong a resemblance to American 
cities that I became at once domesticated here. There 
is much intercourse between Belfast and New York. 
This has produced an assimilation in manners too 
obvious not to be noticed. I dropped into familiar 
conversation with merchants at the Hotel here, and felt 
almost as much at ease as I should have been at the 
Astor House. This qualification, by the way, is not 
strong enough. It is quite as impossible for the guests 
of the Astor to feel as much at ease in any other Hotel, 
as it is to find elsewhere the enjoyments and luxuries 
that surround you there. I know something now of 
the Hotels of England and Ireland, which, in some 
respects, may claim superiority over American Hotels ; 
but I have no hesitation in saying, that for half the 
money paid for apartments at the very best Hotels in 
London, you can secure all the quiet, all the attentions, 
all the conveniences, and much more than all the luxu- 
ries and delicacies at the Astor House. Nor is this the 
opinion of an humble American alone. I have met 
English gentlemen who hold the same opinion, and I 
am assured that Lord Morpeth, whose knowledge and 
taste will not be questioned,, frequently speaks of the 
Astor as the best Hotel he has ever known. 

Belfast has increased more in wealth and population 
for the last fifteen years, than any other town or city 
in Ireland. In 1832 its population only reached some 



158 Timmxnv Weed's 

35,000. They now claim to have a population of over 
100,000. The Rev. Dr. Cook, the most Learned and 
eminent Divine in the North of Ireland, to whom 1 bad 
letters, is in London. 1 lost much valuable information 
in not seeing this distinguished man. 

We visited the Linen manufactories and Bleaching 
establishments, wMoh are the principal source of busi- 
ness and prosperity to Belfast. Mot more than one 
hall' of the Looms are now employed, though business 
IS reviving. Linens are manufactured at Belfast for all 
parts of the world. America, however, is regarded as 
their best market, though most of tho orders from our 
oountry reach the manufacturers through English 
houses. 

1 Intended to havo said a, word, in another place, 
about the Irish Poor I louse system. Kach county has 
its spacious and expensive poor house, lor the erection 
and support of which the property of Ireland is heavily 
taxed. But 1 am told that the system does not work 
well. The poor, unless driven to the direst, extremity, 
will not go to the poor houses. Women evince the 
strongest aversion to places which offer them shelter 
and food, mainly, it is said, because they are there 
deprived of the chances of occasionally tasting tea and 
tobacco. There is another objection which some speak 
of with horror. They are not only scrubbed clean 
when they go there, but are required to perform daily 
ablutions in cold water! "It is bad enough," said one 
ol' them, " to be compelled to drink their Ugly cold 
water, bad luck to them, without having the life frozen 
out o( you with washing in it every morning-." 

The Coach, at several of tho first changes out of 



Letters from Europe. 157 

Dublin, was beset by an unusual number of very im- 
portunate beggar women, whose claims were urged, 
sometimes in the most piteous accents, and at others, 
with an adroitness and humor quite amusing. At 
Drogheda, the beggars besieged us in a way which, 
though embarrassing to a young Lady, was quite amus- 
ing to the other passengers. In handing this lady into 
the coach after dinner, a woman approached us saying, 
" Your honor will sure give something to a poor starving 
widow for the sake of the sweet lady that owns you." 
To get rid of this mode of attack, I gave her a penny. 
This encouraged another, who exclaimed "Your honor's 
a happy man, with such a beautiful lady by your side. 
Don't forget a poor creature with eight starving did- 
ders." She got her penny and departed only to give 
place to a third, who began, " Long life to your honor 
and to your honor's beautiful lady. May you find the 
sweet little ones quite well when you get home." This 
one gave place to another who commenced, " God bless 
your honor and long life to your honor's jewel of a 
lady. It was a lucky day she made choice of your 
honor, who is so good to the poor widows." This, to 
use a cant phrase, was " coming it too strong," and the 
lady exclaimed, "Go away, you jade ; I am not married 
at all." But nothing daunted, the hag continued : 
"Well, if not married already, it's soon you will be, for 
you're too good and sweet a lady to let his honor be 
breaking his heart for you." My small coin was ex- 
hausted, and rather than stand such fire the lady gave 
"the jade" a penny herself, when we were spared further 
annoyance by the Guard's "all right" to the Coachman, 
the crack of whose whip dashed the hopes of half a 



158 Thuelow Weed's 

score of other "widows" who were gathering for the 
onset, 

Steamer Commodore, River Clyde, 9 p. m. 

We took passage in this fine, staunch and beautifully 
finished and furnished Steam Packet, from Belfast to 
Greenwich, in Scotland. The distance is 86 miles. 
The cabin fare is half a sovereign. The fare on deck 
is two shillings sterling. Four o'clock is the hour fixed 
for leaving Belfast, but when we arrived, a few minutes 
before four, the quay was choked up with cars, trucks, 
crates, hampers, men, women and children ; the crates 
and hampers filled with pigs, poultry and vegetables, 
going to Paisley and Glasgow to be eaten ; and the 
men, women and children going first to Scotland to the 
Hay and Oat, and then to England for the Wheat har- 
vest. After a scene of great noise, confusion and labor 
from four till after seven o'clock, the vegetables and 
the animals, biped and quadruped, were stowed away 
either under hatches or upon deck, when we took our 
departure from Belfast. The channel, for several miles, 
is narrow and intricate, but our vessel dodged around, 
by short curves and abrupt angles, among the buoys 
and beacons with admirable obedience to her helm, and 
in an hour we were far enough out to have abundance 
of sea room, with the Irish coast in sight on our left, 
while the shores of Scotia were dimly seen on our right 

I went forward, after we got under way, among the 
deck passengers, some 250 in number, two-thirds of 
whom were as wild, ragged and desperate a set of fel- 
lows as I had ever seen. Many of them were Con- 
naught lads, who, from economy in words, or some other 
cause, are in the habit of using scythes, hooks, pitch- 



Letters feom Eueope. 159 

forks, or whatever argument, of this description, they 
may happen to have in their hands, for the purpose of 
convincing those with whom they differ. But fortu- 
nately there were no differences here. All was hilarity. 
After a few songs, a dance was called, when, instead of 
a Fiddler, a Fifer was procured for the occasion. A 
ring was made. The insides were required to sit, those 
next to kneel, and the outer stratas were allowed to 
stand up. This gave all a chance. The dancing (Irish 
jigs) commenced with great spirit and with more grace 
than I expected to see in dirt and rags. The parties 
"leading off" continued to dance more and more vehe- 
mently, until exhausted, when they called successors 
to the floor, and in this way the amusement was pro- 
longed until a late hour. 

On hoard the steamer I met with a most extraordi- 
nary man — in many respects the most extraordinary of 
any living individual. That there are other men who 
have lost hoth Arms and both Legs by amputation, I 
doubt not, but that those others walk about directly, 
and are able to feed themselves, and even to write, I 
much doubt. This individual is Neal Dewae, a native 
of Argyleshire, in Scotland, who was shipwrecked on 
the coast of Labrador in the schooner Rebecca, of 
Quebec, in 1817. The survivors (the captain, mate 
and four of the crew) found themselves upon the inhos- 
pitable shore of Labrador in the month of November, 
with a cask of cherry brandy their only sustenance. 
The mate and one of the crew perished wi j1 id 

hunger. The captain died soon afterwards. ob- 

ject of this paragraph was so badly wounded .1 the 
legs as to be unable to accompany his companions in 



160 Thuelow Weed's 

an attempt to find assistance. These companions re- 
turned towards night the following day with informa- 
tion that they had found an Indian hut, to which they 
with difficulty assisted him. Here they found a hunter 
with a white man and two Indians in his employment. 
The hunter did all in his power to relieve the sufferers, 
but it soon became evident that nothing but amputation 
would save the lives of Dewae and Donaldson, one of 
his companions. The latter died from loss of blood, 
during the operation. The life of Dewae was saved 
by an application of hot pitch to his bleeding stumps. 
The operation was performed by the white man, assisted 
by the Indians. His arms soon healed, but his legs 
continued in a deplorable state till spring, when his 
kind host had him conveyed to the coast on a sledge, 
and in September he obtained a passage in a schooner 
to Quebec, at which place he was received into the Hos- 
pital of St. Rochs and very kindly attended by the 
nuns. But here it was found necessary to re-amputate 
both his legs ! In 1819 he obtained a passage home to 
Scotland, but on the passage his wounds broke out 
afresh, and while in the Glasgow Infirmary, a third am- 
putation of both his legs was performed by surgeons 
Coekindale and Cumin ! ! The wounds soon healed, 
and for nearly twenty years he has enjoyed excellent 
health. By the aid of Cork Legs and the assistance of 
a Cane jointed to a Cork Arm, he walks without diffi- 
culty. He takes his meals by jointing a fork into his 
le. nd by "unshipping (as he expressed it) the 

car shipping a knife" into the joint of the right 

stum. . 



Letters from Europe. 161 



XVIII. 

GREENOCK August 5, 1843. 

Scotland, the birth-place of Burns and of Scott, 
the land of Lake and of Mountain, is revealing her 
beauties to my admiring eyes. Nor in her case does 
the reality disappoint the expectation. Scotia's bards 
have scarcely taken a Poet's license in their descrip- 
tions of her Lake and Highland scenery. I have had 
as yet but a day's enjoyment among them, but that is 
sufficient to enable one to attest the fidelity of those 
who have celebrated the picturesque charms of the 
Clyde, Dumbarton, Loch Lomond, Ben Lomond, Loch 
Long, &c, &c. 

"We left the Belfast steamer at an early hour this 
morning at this town, in whose harbor there is an 
appearance of considerable commercial activity. It 
has, I learn, several ships constantly employed in the 
East India trade. It is situated on the Clyde, under 
the brow of a hill, along which its principal street 
extends for more than one mile. On the opposite sides 
the hills of Argyleshire and Dumbartonshire are seen. 
As an evidence of the pride and enterprise of the 
citizens of Greenock, it is stated that when the Govern- 
ment was about to erect a Custom House, they sub- 
scribed and paid $> 10,000 to insure the construction of 
one that is now an ornament to their town. Greenock 

21 



162 Thurlow Weed's 

is the birth-place of the justly celebrated Watt, of 
whom there is a splendid Statue by Chantey in West- 
minister Abbey. 

After an early breakfast we took the steamer for an 
excursion through the Lakes. The mOrning was dark 
and rainy, not, however, without a bow of promise in the 
west ; and soon after we were afloat upon the Clyde, 
the sun appeared to brighten a genial sky and to bless 
a beautiful verdant landscape. Soon after 9 o'clock, 
Dumbarton Castle, lifting its two frowning, bald rock 
Towers high up in the clouds, attracted our attention. 
Arriving opposite the Castle the steamer lay off in the 
stream until passengers for Loch Lomond were des- 
patched to the shore in a small boat. And this proved 
to be no sinecure job, for, in addition to some twenty 
passengers, there were two Packs of Dogs in leash, a 
litter of Puppies in hamper, with liberal supplies of 
small arms, fishing tackle, ammunition, "provant," &c, 
&c, for gentlemen having deadly intentions towards 
grouse and trout. In good time, however, all were 
landed on the beach at the foot of Dumbarton Castle, 
and proceeded from thence on foot to the ancient Town 
of Dumbarton, from which place the sportsmen des- 
patched cars for their " luggage." 

Dumbarton Castle is a fortress of much historical 
interest. It is a rock in the Clyde measuring a mile in 
circumference at its base, and rising almost perpendicu- 
larly on all sides to the height of 560 feet. During 
the early Scottish Wars, this Rock was always strongly 
fortified; but impregnable as it seems, it was once 
taken, in the night, by means of ladders so placed as to 
enable a scaling party to ascend the most precipitous 



Letters from Europe. 163 

points The assailing 1 party was commanded by a 
Capt. Crawford, who was personally the most efficient 
man in the daring and difficult enterprise. Sir Wil- 
liam Wallace, after his capture, was for a long time 
on Dumbarton Rock, in a Tower still bearing his name. 
At the Union between Scotland and England, the for- 
mer stipulated that Dumbarton Castle should always 
remain a fortification, with a Grarrison to protect its 
works. There are, therefore, detachments of infantry 
and Artillery stationed there now. 

At Dumbarton there was a scene as rich as that from 
which Sir Walter Scott drew his first chapter of the 
Antiquary. Passengers for Loch Lomond take Coach 
here over to the Lake, which is five miles distant. The 
quiet town of Dumbarton was invaded this morning 
with an unusual number of Visitors, to say nothing of 
Dogs, Luggage, &c. Extra conveyances had to be 
provided. This created delay. The "Dumbarton 
Arms," as well as the "Coach for Loch Lomond," 
rejoiced in "Mrs. Currie" as Proprietress. There was 
a gentleman with us, who, with less perhaps of natural 
hostility to "womankind" than Monkbarns, manifested 
the same testy impatience that characterized the Anti- 
quary's colloquy with " Mrs. Macleuchar," whose placard 
assured the public that her Coach for "Queen's ferry" 
left Edinburgh promptly at 9 o'clock. This gentlemen 
first mildly urged "Mrs. Currie" to hasten the depart- 
ure of the coach, which she said would be "round to the 
stand in no time." After waiting a few minutes he 
rang the bell furiously, and when the Lady made her 
appearance the gentleman pointed to the clock with the 
remark that she had kept him twenty minutes too long, 



164 Thuelow Weed's 

and that if he lost the Steamer by her means he would 
not pay her a baubee for the Coach. She reiterated 
the assurance that the Coach would be round to the 
door by the time the gentlemen could get down stairs — 
and then retreated to her own dominions. The gentle- 
man hastened to the door and waited for a few 
moments, when, there being no sign of the Coach, he 
returned to the sitting-room and again rang the bell. 
When " Mrs. Currie " appeared, he assailed her with a 
volley of imprecations, and while threatening her with 
pains and penalties for interrupting his visit to the Tros- 
sachs, the Coachman's horn announced that all was 
"right," and the Landlady marshaled her excited patron to 
the door. But here an unexpected delay occurred. The 
testy gentleman's Son was missing! It was now 
"Mrs. Currie's" moment of triumph and revenge! 
"The Coach canna wait, sir. It is o'er late noo." "But 
I cannot leave my son !" " Its na' my fault that your 
daft son is na here." "Wait but a moment — Run after 
my son, boy, you shall get a penny for it." " Will you 
step into the Coach, sir, or shall I despatch it without 
you ! The " Emperor " will be half way up the Loch 
before it gets there, and gentlemen will miss their visit 
to the Trossachs !" " I entreat you to wait but a minute, 
Mrs. Currie." "Awa' wi' your Mrs. Curries; it is but 
a moment since ye were misca'ing me an ugly old 
woman; but it is no use clavering here. The Coach 
must be awa'. You can wait another day for your 
ne'er-do-well Son." At this critical moment the young 
gentlemen was seen running towards us with a boy at 
his heels. During this scene the other Passengers were 
convulsed with laughter, and Mrs. Currie, while taking 



Letters feom Europe. 165 

her revenge, in great apparent earnestness, had much 
difficulty to preserve the rigidity of own muscles. It 
turned out that the youth had indulged a very natural 
desire to get a sketch of Dumbarton Castle, and while 
engaged in his drawing, had forgotten the Coach. 

In our drive to Loch Lomond, about two miles from 
Dumbarton, we passed the cottage in which Dr. Smol- 
let was born. Farther on are highly cultivated 
grounds and a stately mansion, owned and occupied by 
a descendant of Smollet. 

"We were joined at the foot or outlet of Loch Lo- 
mond, by a large and fashionable London party, 
among whom was a Diana Vernon in habit, hat, man- 
ner, &c, but I doubt much whether Mr. Feancis 
Osbaldistone would have discovered hi this " counter- 
feit presentment" much resemblance to the charming 
original. The party, consisting of about sixty, was 
taken in a large Durham boat from the Balloch Suspen- 
sion Bridge to the steamer that lay puffing off her 
high pressure steam out in the Lake ; and when aboard 
and under way a scene opened as rich and beautiful as 
painter or poet ever imagined. Loch Lomond is 28 
miles long, and varies in width from half a mile to 
five miles. It is studded with Islands, some of which 
are half or three-quarters of a mile long, while others 
are but a few rods. "Inch Mulvin," the largest Island 
in the Loch, belongs to the Duke of Montrose, and 
hundreds of Deer are seen feeding and sporting as you 
pass. When we came in sight of Ben Lomond, his 
head was hid in the mist, but as we approached, the 
veil was rent and a splendid spectacle presented itself. 
Ben Lomond is 3,200 feet above the level of the Lake, 



166 Thurlow "Weed's 

and taken in connection with the objects that surround 
it, is eminently bold and striking. But it is not to any- 
single object that this tour owes its attraction. The 
charm is continuous and variegated. Of the 32 Islands 
in Loch Lomond, some are rocky and precipitous, 
others are of even surface and carpeted with verdure, 
while others are handsomely wooded. There is one 
view which reminds you strongly of West Point, 
though it lacks the grandeur of that scene. At another 
place you seem, as at a pass in the Massachusetts Rail- 
road, running into the Mountain without any possibility 
of an outlet. 

This tour, it will be recollected, takes you into the 
country of the Mac Gteegoes. These hills are memora- 
ble for the protection and impunity they gave to Rob 
Roy. It was from these mountain fastnesses that Rob 
Roy used to make his incursions upon the Herds and 
Flocks of his Lowland neighbors. And it was here, 
when pursued, that he used to hurl destruction upon 
his enemies. You are pointed, in passing, to a shelving 
rock, still called "Rob Roy's Rock," from which it is 
said he used to suspend Gentlemen who refused to pay 
him Black Mail. Without inquiring into the authenti- 
city of this tradition, I sought for points of interest in 
relation to which there is no question; for there are 
localities, you know, connected with Rob Roy's history, 
attested by a writer of eminent and veritable character 
and accuracy. It was to this region that Rob Roy 
despatched "Bailie Nicol Jarvie" and "Frank 
Osbaldistone," under guidance of the "creature 
Dugald." The "Clachan of Aberfoil," where the 
Bailie flourished the "hot poker" with such gallantry 



Letters from Europe. 167 

and effect, is situated a few miles from the Loch, and 
out of sight; but I was enabled to trace their route 
into the Highlands, along the precipices bordering 
Loch Lomond. And I either identified or imagined 
the narrow pass where Capt. Thornton was hailed by 
Rob Roy's wife, who stood out boldly upon an over- 
hanging rock above, with a man's bonnet and feather, 
an unsheathed sword, and pistols at her girdle, com- 
manding the soldiers to " stand ! and tell me what ye 
seek in the Mac G-regor's country 1" And when 
assured by Captain Thornton that he " made no war 
upon women," she replied ; " Ay, I am no stranger to 
your tender mercies. Ye have left me neither honor 
nor fame — my mother's bones will shrink from the con- 
tact when mine are laid beside them in the grave. Ye 
have left neither home nor hold, neither cattle to feed 
nor flocks to clothe us. Ye have taken from us all — 
all — the very name of our ancestors, and now ye come 
for our lives." 

And here, after the English officer, disregarding the 
caution of Helen Mac G-regor, had encountered a fire 
from her followers, which proved fatal to most of his 
men, and led to the capture of the survivors, I looked 
peeringly around for "the projecting branch of a hag- 
ged thorn, which, catching hold of the Bailie's riding 
coat, supported him in mid air, where he dangled not 
unlike to the sign of the Grolden Fleece over the door 
of a mercer in Ludgate Hill." Andrew Fairservice, 
with better fortune than the Bailie, attained a foothold 
on a cliff higher up, from which "he roared for mercy 
during the encounter, in Gaelic and English alternately 
according to the side on which the scale of victory 



168 Thurlow Weed's 

seemed to predominate." And finally, I almost saw 
the bubbles rising from that portion of the Loch into 
which Helen Mac Gregor, while her blood was up, 
took hasty vengeance upon one of her husband's 
enemies, by ordering the wretch Morris manacled and 
weighted, "cast from the rock into the waters which 
settled calmly over him, and the unit of that life for 
which he had pleaded so strongly, was forever with- 
drawn from the sum of human existence." 

Returning, we left the steamer at Tarbet, where we 
dined, and crossed over to Loch Long in a " noddy," 
where another steamer lay in waiting for the Passengers 
from Loch Lomond. Loch Long is an arm of the sea, 
bounded by very high hills denuded of wood and 
shrubs, but with tolerable grazing for the flocks of 
sheep and herds of black cattle that are seen feeding 
upon them. From Loch Long we had a fine view of 
"Ben Arthur," a bold promontory 2,359 feet above 
the level of the water. We emerged from Loch Long 
into the broadest part of the Clyde three miles below 
Greenock, and thus terminated the "sight-seeing" of 
an exceedingly interesting day. 

The London Globe of yesterday contains a para- 
graph in relation to Free Trade which, though brief, 
sums up the whole case. Here it is : 

"How idle it is to talk about reciprocity -when we refuse reciprocity; 
and to set ourselves up as Free Trade teachers to the world, and wonder 
they disregard our instructions, at the very moment we persist in making 
exceptions from Free Trade of the very articles of which our most effective 
natural demand consists, and cf which the New World will form, at least 
ultimately, the most extensive source of supply — as on the other hand, to the 
New World we must look for the most effective natural demand for our pro- 
duct. The intentions of Nature and Providence may doubtless be thwarted 



Letters from Eueope. 169 

on both sides; but not without loss to the laborer, and loss of cheapness and 
abundance to the markets of both, in those commodities which each wants 
from the other, and which each can pay for, if each will but accept payment 
in the form that will best satisfy its wants." 

This frank admission of an important fact which 
bears directly and forcibly upon the question of Free 
Trade, from a leading London paper, ought to have its 
influence upon our Anti-Tariff people. There is no 
escape from this well compacted argument. Free 
Trade, without reciprocity, would answer if we had 
nothing to sell. But we abound in products of which 
England is short; while we need the manufactures 
that England must sell. When, therefore, England 
thinks proper to take our Produce upon Free Trade 
principles, she may with propriety ask us to receive 
her manufactures upon reciprocal terms. But England 
will only consent to one-sided Free Trade. She can- 
not let in American produce without ruining her Agri- 
culturists, who are the Aristocracy. Indeed, one has 
only to make a radius across this highly cultivated Isl- 
and, teeming as it now does, with the bounties of the • 
Earth, to see that England is as eminently an Agricul- 
tural, as she is a Commercial and Manufacturing 
country. Here the three great pursuits of civilized life 
are rendered, as they should be with us, instrumental 
to sustain, cherish and protect each other. 



22 



170 Thuelow "Weed's 



XIX. 

GLASGOW, August 7, 1843. 

We arrived at Greenock, on our return from the 
Lakes, in season to take the last Railway run, and were 
here before 9 o'clock on Saturday evening. The dis- 
tance from Greenock to Glasgow is 22 miles. The 
fare, in first class cars is five shillings ; in second class, 
two and sixpence, and in the third sixpence ! But the 
third class passengers stand up, and are exposed to the 
weather, there being no seat or covering to these cars. 
The train passed through Paisley, but its stop was too 
short to enable me to do more than count twenty-three 
manufacturers' tower chimneys vomiting forth smoke and 
fire, and indicating more or less of business activity. 
I hope, therefore, that the inhabitants of this town who 
have suffered so severely, are not now out of employ- 
ment. 

In entering Glasgow I was struck with its magnitude. 
Argyle street, where we lodge, seems as rife of human 
existence as London itself. Nor was my surprise at all 
diminished upon learning that Glasgow is a city of over 
300,000 inhabitants. There is, just now, a great deal 
of suffering in Glasgow, arising as much from its redun- 
dancy of population, as from the depressed condition of 
its commerce and manufactures. The Poor, or rather 
the vagrant poor, resort to all sorts of contrivances to 
" raise the wind." At one point you find a Blind Bag- 



Letters from Europe. 171 

Piper, and at another a Blind Fiddler. Then you 
encounter two or three Musicians either halt or blind, 
" making night hideous " in concert. Next come the 
Vocalists. The first of this class I encountered were 
two ragged girls seven or eight years old, singing " I'm 
o'er young to marry yet." The next was an old man 
in a tartan and cap, singing "Wha'll be King but 
Charlie ! " Then three boys of "rake-helly " aspect, in 
a boisterous glee, the words of which I could not catch ; 
and finally, a Father, Mother and five small children, 
walking with slow and solemn tread along the sidewalk 
singing sacred melodies with much taste and sweetness. 
This is no exaggeration. I saw, in a crowded street, 
in passing two blocks, or less than a quarter of a mile, 
all these musical appeals for charity. And each suppli- 
cant had his group of admirers, and each received 
more or less for the music they discoursed. 

Though Glasgow has a population nearly as lai-ge as 
New York, it bears no comparison to our great Metro- 
polis in other respects. There are a few fine streets 
with spacious granite buildings, occupied by her opulent 
merchants and manufacturers. But the city does not 
cover half the territory that New York occupies, nor 
are there half as many buildings here as there. The 
Poorer classes are huddled together in the same build- 
ing, each '"flat" (as they call stories) having its half 
dozen tenants. 

Glasgow owes much of its prosperity to the wisdom 
and enterprise of her merchants, who have, by excava- 
tions, actually created a ship navigation for themselves. 
Some thirty years ago the Clyde was only navigable 
for vessels to Port Glasgow, some 18 miles below. 



172 Thurlow "Weed's 

Flat-bottomed boats with difficulty made their way 
here. Now, the Harbor of Glasgow is filled with large 
Brigs, Schooners and Steamboats. But the navigation 
terminates abruptly at the point where the excavations 
cease. Above the Bridge, which the bowsprits of the 
vessels touch, there is scarcely water enough to float a 
canoe or turn an over-shot mill wheel. 

Scotland, you know, is distinguished for its observ- 
ance of the Sabbath. There are no modes of convey- 
ance here on Sunday. Railways, Steamers and 
Coaches rest on the Sabbath. This morning (Sunday) 
the streets and marts that were so thronged last night, 
and in which there was all the noise and confusion of 
Babel, are now totally deserted. No sound from voice 
or footstep is heard. Even upon the Quay, where 
Loafers " most do congregate," there is silence and soli- 
tude. 

The sound of the " Church-going bell," however, put 
everybody in motion. And now the teeming streets 
reminded me of Albany, whose Churches are as well 
attended as any in the World. I mingled in this 
stream of human beings and was wafted — where I 
have often and anxiously wished myself — to the Iron 
Church ; but the voice of one upon whose eloquent 
teaching tens of thousands have founded their faith, is 
no longer heard there. I should have esteemed it a 
great privilege to hear the Rev. Dr. Chalmers. 

The singing is conducted here as it was with us twenty 
years ago, the Leader standing in a desk in front of the 
Pulpit, and instead of a Choir in the Gallery, the con- 
gregation participates in this part of the exercises. 
The Leader indicates the music by displaying on either 



Letters from Europe. 173 

side of him a narrow panel on which its name is painted 
thus — "Devizes," before the sermon and afterwards, 
" Arnold." 

You are aware that the Church of Scotland is just 
now painfully distracted. The convulsion is universal, 
and the evils, I fear, will prove as lasting as they are 
pervading. Congregations are broken up. Brethren 
are divided. Children arrayed against Parents. The 
waters of strife and bitterness are poisoning the relig- 
ious communion and intercourse by which Scotland has 
so long been distinguished. These difficulties originate 
with the relations existing between Church and State. 
The Clergy were desirous of securing to the People more 
power in the selection of Pastors than was allowed by 
the Government. Having matured and adopted what 
they deemed proper forms of proceeding, a delegation 
proceeded to London to confer with the Ministry, by 
whom their proposition was discourteously rejected. 
The Clergy having gone too far to recede, hundreds of 
them have relinquished their Churches. The followers 
of the dissenting Ministers, are erecting new Churches. 
I do not pretend to understand the merits of this con- 
troversy, but reasoning from general principles, it is 
not unsafe to assume that the Government has, like the 
sons of Levi, taken too much upon itself. Scotland is 
eminently indebted to her fearless and faithful Min- 
isters, in all ages, for the high civil and religious privi- 
leges she enjoys. Nor is she less indebted to the learning 
and piety of this .class of Teachers for the intelligence 
and virtue that characterize and adorn her People. 

Glasgow is in all respects a place of much greater 
importance and magnitude than I was prepared to see. 



174 Thuklow Weed's 

It is possible that others may not be aware of its claims 
to consideration. That it is one of the oldest places in 
Scotland is known ; that it was frequently devastated 
by fires and scourged with plagues and leprosy, is also 
known. Up to 1775 its principal article of commerce 
and source of profit, was Tobacco, which they imported 
from the American Colonies in great quantities and 
under advantageous auspices. The Revolutionary war 
cut up this trade, but not until the Glasgow merchants 
had made large fortunes by it. From the Tobacco 
business they turned their attention to the manufacture 
of Cotton Goods, in which they were eminently suc- 
cessful. It is supposed that Glasgow now employs 40,- 
000 hand-loom weavers. There are, it is estimated, 
1,100,000 spindles now employed here. Over 100,000 
bales of Cotton are consumed annually. Education here, 
as in all parts of Scotland, is within the reach of all 
classes. Glasgow abounds, too, in Religious, Charitable 
and Philanthropic Institutions, for the support of which 
over £50,000, or $250,000 is raised in donations annually. 

In St. George's Square, a fine large central Park, is 
a large monument to the memory of Sir Walter Scott, 
and statues of Sir John Moore, who was a native of 
Glasgow, and of John Watts, a native of Greenock. 
Argyle street, which is known as Gallogate and Fron- 
gate at either extremity, is a broad, busy thoroughfare, 
over three miles in length. 

Upon the Necropolis are monuments to the memory 
of John Knox and of the late Rev. Dr. Dick. At the 
foot of this elevation stands a venerable Cathedral. 
The Lunatic Asylum is as noble in its structure as ben- 
eficent in its object. The Glasgow or Broomielaw 



Letters from Europe. 175 

Bridge, 60 feet wide and 500 feet long", of Aberdeen 
granite, is one of the finest in the world. 

During the year ending July 1838, there were 4,600 
arrivals of sailing vessels at Glasgow. The city 
derived a revenue of £43,287 from its harbor charges. 
The Post-office revenue of Glasgow, last year, was 
£47,527. 

Glasgow merchants are stockholders in the Cunard 
Steamers. I have heard, indeed, that a majority of the 
stock of the Line is owned here, but not from a source 
that I can vouch for, though it may be true. 

We have, at the suggestion of a 'gentleman who 
traveled with us from Dublin to Belfast, been stopping 
at the " Commercial Inns " at Belfast, Greenock, and 
Glasgow. This, by means of a sort of " gark," as the 
ostler at York called the " pass " that " Jim Radcliff " 
gave " Jeanie Deans " when she started for London, has 
introduced us to the " Commercial Gentlemen," a class 
unknown in America. These gentlemen are the Agents 
of the large Manufacturing and Commercial Houses, who 
are constantly traveling through the large towns in 
England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland. The mode of 
ptu'chasing goods, you will perceive, differs entirely 
from ours. Country merchants do not go (as in Amer- 
ica, to New York, Boston, Philadelphia or Baltimore) to 
London, Liverpool, Birmingham, Sheffield, Manchester, 
Leeds, &c, to purchase goods, but the manufacturers 
and importers send Agents, with samples and prices, 
throughout the Kingdom, from whom the goods are 
purchased, generally on time, and to whom, when paper 
matm-es, payment is made. The country or interior 



6 



176 Thurlow "Weed's 

merchant, therefore, seldom if ever goes to the commer- 
cial or manufacturing cities. 

These " Commercial Gentlemen, as you will suppose, 
are active, intelligent, conversable, shrewd, plausible 
men. There is a " Commercial Room " at the Inns 
they frequent, where they so far depart from the Eng- 
lish mode of living at Hotels, as to dine together. 
This affords me an opportunity of hearing much that 
both interests and amuses. The Senior (or the gentle- 
man who has been longest at the Inn) takes the head 
of the table, and is addressed as " Mr. President." The 
President orders what Wine and as much or little as he 
pleases. Until the meats, "sweets" and cheeses have 
been removed, the conversation is confined to matters 
of business. After cloth has been removed and the 
Wine returned, the President gives " The Queen." 
This is followed by, " The Ladies," from the Vice-Presi- 
dent, and then the conversation becomes general, dis- 
cursive and lively. They have been exceedingly 
attentive and kind to us. The first and last inquiry of 
an American, is whether our Tariff will be modified ? 
If those on our side of the Atlantic could hear- English- 
men, manufacturers and merchants talk upon this 
subject, we should hear no more of the argument that 
Duties upon importations are a Tax upon the con- 
sumers ! I am amazed that this fallacy can mislead 
and delude intelligent men. 

In a stroll this evening, we came in front of a dimly 
lighted building, at the window of which the Manager 
of a Company of strollers was expressing his " mingled 
emotions of astonishment and mortification that so 
many gentlemen should be content to deprive them- 



Letters from Europe. 177 

selves of the exquisite enjoyment of seeing the popular 
tragedy of "Douglas," the part of "Young Norval" 
by Mr. Boxlet, the modern Garrick, who even bids 
fair to surpass that great Dramatic master ; and 
especially when he repeated, what he had had the hon- 
or of assuring them before, that this truly thrilling 
tragedy, with the inimitable farce of the " Review," and 
a Scotch Reel by Miss Fitz Allen, could all be seen 

for ONE PENNY ! " 

Unmoved by this moving appeal we passed along to 
the Circus, where we most unexpectedly (for we had 
not seen the bills) encountered a troupe of familiar 
faces, among whose were those of two of the " Colum- 
bian Minstrels," who were our fellow passengers in the 
George Washington, Bancker, the inimitable clown, 
Master Cooke, the Equestrian, &c, &c. The Company, 
I believe, is in charge of Mr. Walsh, of Westchester, 
whom we know as an enterprising, reputable man. 
There were from 2,500 to 3,000 persons in the Circus. 

23 



178 Thurlow Weed's 



XX. 

GLASGOW, August 9, 1843. 

"We have just returned from a visit to the birth-place 
of Robert Burns. We lingered for hours around 
objects made classic by his genius. This true Poet of 
Nature has invested everything that surrounds Ayr 
and Alloway with an interest that can never die. 
Every brook, and brae, and craig, and " Brig," are the 
self-erected monuments to his memory and his muse. 

The Glasgow and Ayr Railway enables visitors to 
go to Alloway in three hours and a half. The cottage 
in which the Poet was born is about two and a half 
miles from Ayr. It is and has been occupied by a Mrs. 
Goudie (an intelligent and communicative old lady, 
who was acquainted with Burns) for forty-two years. 
The cottage, as constructed by the Poet's Father, on 
seven acres of ground, for which he bought a perpetual 
lease, is small and humble, consisting of a single room 
and kitchen. When the Poet's Father rented Mount 
Oliphant, a farm near the cottage, he sold his seven 
acres to the Shoemaker's Corporation of Ayr, for £60, 
to whom Mrs. Goudie pays an annual rent of £45. 

From the cottage we proceeded to the " Burns Monu- 
ment," a very tasteful, poetic structure, erected on the 
banks of the "Bonny Doon," at an expense of £3,300, 
raised by subscription. The grounds around it are 
handsomely laid out and adorned with many varieties 



Letters from Europe. 179 

of shrub and flower. Within the monument, upon the 
ground floor, is an apartment lighted from a cupola, with 
stained glass, in the center of which stands a table with 
relics of Burns inclosed in a glass case. Among these 
mementoes are the two Bibles presented by the Poet to 
his "Highland Mary." In the fly leaf to each volume 
"Robert Burns, Mossgiel," as written by himself, is 
seen ; and in the 1st Book "And ye shall not swear by 
my name falsely," and in the 2d, "Thou shalt not for- 
swear thyself, but shall perform unto the Lord thine 
oaths," appear in his handwriting. With these sacred 
volumes is a lock of "Highland Mary's" hair. After 
the death of Mary Campbell, these Bibles were given 
by her mother to Mrs. Anderson, another daughter, 
who subsequently gave one to each of her daughters. 
A son of Mrs. Anderson, who resides in Canada, came 
afterwards in possession of both these volumes, but was 
compelled by pecuniary misfortunes to part with them. 
They were purchased for £25 by some Scotch gentle- 
men at Montreal and returned to Scotland for preserva- 
tion in the monument, where they were deposited on 
the 25th (the Poet's birthday) of January, 1841. The 
view from the monument is one of surpassing beauty, 
every bright feature of which has its poetic associations. 
From the monument we passed over to 

" Alloway's auld haunted Kirk," 

the walls and bell of which alone are preserved, the 
woodwork having long since been transformed into 
snuff-boxes. Near the Kirk yard gate are the remains 
of the Poet's Father, distinguished by a slab on which 
these lines, written by Burns, are inscribed : 



180 Thuelow Weed's 

" Oh ye whose cheek the tear of pity stains, 

"Draw near with pious reverence and attend; 
" Here lie the loving husband's dear remains, 

" The tender father, and the generous friend. 
" The pitying heart that felt for human woe, 

" The dauntless heart that feared no human pride, 
" The friend of man — to sin alone a foe, 

"For e'en his failings leant to virtue's side." 

The tomb of the Lord of Alloway is in the area of 
the Kirk, and at the west corner of the Cemetery is a 
handsome modern monument to the memory of Gen. 
Hughes. A few yards farther west, and by the side of 

the door, is the 

" Well 

"Where Mungo's mither hanged hersel'." 

Going south a few hundred yards you come to " Auld 
Brig," over which "Tarn O'Shanter" was pursued by 
the witches, and still farther on you see 

" The meikle stane 
"Where drunken Charlie brak's neck-bane." 

A sister of Buens resides about three-quarters of a 
mile from the Cottage, upon whom we intended to call, 
but just as we had terminated our view of external 
objects, the rain descended in such torrents that we were 
compelled to forego the visit. Mrs. Goudie informed 
us that this sister is a widow lady upwards of seventy, 
but enjoying good health. 

We returned to Ayr, an ancient town of much histor- 
ical interest, through which — the rain having abated — 
we wandered for an hour. Ayrshire contained a popu- 
lation of 145,000 in 1831, and boasts of having given 
birth to Beuce, Wallace and Buens. Ayrshire was 
also the scene of the great Eglintoun tournament in 
1839. The river Ayr abounds in trout and salmon. 
The salmon, by the way, have never been so plentiful 



Letters from Europe. 181 

as this season. Immense quantities are taken daily 
from Ireland and Scotland to England. They have 
been sold, where they are taken most abundantly, for 
three cents a pound. 

The Ayr "folk" have erected a noble Tower in honor 
of Sir William Wallace, which is adorned with a statue 
of the Scottish Chief by Thom. There is another statue 
of Wallace in a niche of an ancient stone building in 
which, he once took refuge when hard pressed by a 
superior force. 

The Tower of St. John's Church, erected in the 12th 
century, but converted into an Armory and Fortification 
by Oliver Cromwell, in 1652, is a venerable relic. 
The Rev. John Welsh, son-in-law of the Reformer, 
John Knox, was Pastor of St. John's Church in 1560. 

But I passed these objects with a cursory glance for 
the purpose of seeing and crossing "The Brigs of Ayr," 
whose relative claims to consideration were so glow- 
ingly sung by 

" The simple Bard, rough at the rustic plough, 
"Learning his tuneful trade from every bough." 

While standing upon the "Auld Brig," looking to- 
wards its gay rival, it required but a slight effort of the 
imagination to endow it with the powers of speech, and 
to suppose it exclaiming : 

" Conceited gowk ! puff' d wi' windy pride ! 
" This mony a year I've stood the flood an' tide ; 
" An' tho' wi' crazy eild I'm sair forfeairn. 
"I'll be a brig when ye're a shapeless cairn." 

And having imagined this, the supercilious reply of 
the "New Brig" was, of course, heard: 

"Fine Architecture! trowth, I need not say't o'tl 
"The Lord be thankit that we've tint the gate o'tl 
" Gaunt, ghastly, ghaist-alluring edifices, 



182 Thurlow "Weed's 

" Hanging with threat'ning jut like precipices ; 
" Mansions that would disgrace the building taste 
" Of any mason, reptile, bird or beast." 

It is a little singular that the poetic prophecy of 
Burns, that the Old Brig would be a Brig when the new 
one became a "shapeless cairn," is about to be realized. 
The new Brig, since the construction of the Ayr Rail- 
way, which terminates near it, is found too narrow for 
the increase of business, and is to be taken down. 
This Bridge was built in 1778. The " Old Bridge" was 
erected in 1285, and looks as if it might stand as much 
longer. 

Before leaving the " Brig" my attention was arrested 
by what with us would be regarded, if not patented, 
as an " Improved Washing Machine." At least a dozen 
washtubs were placed along the shore of the river Ayr, 
in which as many females, some old and ugly, and 
others young and pretty, were "pounding clothes" with 
their feet ! I have heard that the Scotch lasses, who 
have large "Bakings," knead their bread in the same 
manner ; the truth of this, however, I cannot vouch ; 
but that I saw them dancing in washtubs, without stock- 
ings or garters, is certain. 

Within a mile of the village of Tarbolton, near the 
river Ayr, is the scene of Burns' last and truly affect- 
ing interview with Mary Campbell. It was of a 
Sunday in May. Their mutual faith was plighted, first 
by laving their hands in the pure stream, and then 
crossing them upon Mary's Bible. Preparatory to their 
marriage, Mary visited her friends in Argyleshire, and 
in returning, fell sick and died at Greenock. Burns 
retained through life the most devoted remembrance of 
this eaily attachment. Mr. Lockhart, who, from fre- 



Letters from Europe. 183 

quent interviews with the widow of the Poet, derived 
many very interesting facts in relation to Burns, states 
among other things that many years after his marriage, 
and on the anniversary of the death of " Hiland Mary," 
after working hard all day in the fields, though out of 
health, he wandered into the barnyard, where he 
remained so long that Mrs. B., alarmed at his absence, 
went repeatedly and begged him to come in, which he 
promised to do, but remained stretched upon a mass of 
straw, with his eyes fixed upon a beautiful planet that 
shone like another moon, until a late hour. On enter- 
ing the house he called for his desk, and immediately 
wrote the following sublime and pathetic lines : 

" Thou lingering Star with lessening ray, 

" That lov'st to greet the early morn ; 
" Again thou usher'st in the day, 

" My Mary, from my soul was torn. 

" Oh, Mary I dear departed shade, 

"Where is thy place of blissful rest? 
" Seest thou thy lover, lowly laid ? 

"Hear'st thou the groans that rend his breast? 

'" That sacred hour can I forget, 

" Can I forget the hallow'd grove, 
" Where, by the winding Ayr we met, 

" To live one day of parting love ? 
" Eternity will ne'er efface, 

"Those records dear of transports past; 
" Thy image at our last embrace ; 

" Ah ! little thought we 'twas our last." 

William Burns, the Poet's Father, is remembered as 
an intelligent, worthy, pious Farmer, but one on whom 
fortune bestowed more of her frowns than her smiles. 
At his death, the family were left entirely destitute, but 
soon removed (in 1784) from Alloway to Moss-giel, 
where the Poet found in Gavin Hamilton (from him 
his mother leased a farm) an early and generous friend. 



184 Thurlow Weed's 

Most of his Poems, during the three years he resided 
here, from his 25th to his 28th year, were written. 

I am surprised in finding upon the Register kept for 
visitors at the Birthplace of Burns, the names of but 
very few Americans. In looking back for the last four 
months I noticed the names of three of my country- 
men, one of which was that of Professor Mussy of 
Boston. 

The Glasgow and Ayr Railway, though undertaken 
with serious doubts of its answering the hopes of stock- 
holders, proves a most profitable investment. It is 
fifty miles in length and runs through Paisley, John- 
stone, Lochwinnock, Beith, Kilbirnie, Dairy, Saltcoats, 
Kilwinning, &c, which are manufacturing towns ; and 
through Irvine (a beautiful place), Troon, Monkton, 
Prestwick, Ayr, &c, which are upon the sea coast, and 
commercial in their pixrsuits. The capital stock was 
£520,000, most of which was subscribed by the mer- 
chants of Glasgow. Forty per cent only had been 
called when the Railway was completed. Its stock is 
at or above par. I allude more particularly to this 
subject now for the purpose of remarking that, but for 
the circumstance that this Railway was to approach the 
Birthplace of Burns, the stock would not have been 
taken, nor would the Way have been constructed. 
This circumstance popularized the enterprise. Many 
capitalists ventured to take stock who, but for the charm 
which Burns has thrown around Ayr and Alloway, 
would have held their hands. Nor was this view of 
the question too poetical. A considerable item in the 
receipts of the company is derived from visitors to the 
Birthplace of Burns. 



Letters from Europe. 185 



XXI. 

EDINBURGH, August 9, 1843. 

Leaving my friends to extend their walks in and about 
Glasgow, I hastened up here for the letters and news- 
papers which I hoped to find from Home. Nor were 
these hopes disappointed. My letters, with files of the 
Evening Journal, Argus and Tribune, had been for- 
warded from London by the Barings, whose attentions 
and kindness to all Americans are too proverbial to ren- 
der my poor acknowledgments of any service to them. 
The afternoon and evening were joyfully devoted to 
the reading of these welcome missives. With the 
exception of a single " Commercial Advertiser " at Dub- 
lin, and a file of the " Courier and Enquirer " at Belfast, 
I had been three weeks without newspapers. This, for 
one who was all but cradled in a Printing office, and to 
whom newspapers had been a daily aliment for more 
than thirty years, was a long fast. 

Edinburgh is emphatically a Bookish city. It is lit- 
erary in all its aspects, and if possible, in its atmosphere. 
Bookstores, Printing offices, Paper warehouses, Print 
shops, &c, with garnished signs, emblazoned illustra- 
tions and ornamented windows, furnish abundant 
evidence that Books constitute the staple of the commo- 
dity in which the citizens of Edinburgh traffic. Indeed 
she has no commerce, and except in Books, very little 
manufactures. But in Literature and the Profes- 

24 



186 Thurlow Weed's 

sional — if I may use another word — the practical 
sciences — she long since attained, and still retains, an 
elevated and enviable rank. 

In 1832, the population of Edinburgh (including 
Leith, its seaport neighbor) was 164,909, since which 
there has been no comparative increase. Of this num- 
ber 7,462 were either Professional men or persons 
engaged in Banking ; while Glasgow, with a much 
larger population, had but 2,723 Professional men and 
Bankers, though it employed 19,913 of its citizens 
(excluding operatives) in manufactures, while Edin- 
burgh gave employment, in this way, to but 792 of her 
citizens. Edinburgh, depends, for its prosperity, almost 
entirely upon its Literary, Judicial and Educational 
pursuits and institutions. In all these elements and 
sources of refined enjoyment, rather than of wealth, 
she is eminently endowed. In Medicine, Law and The- 
ology (but more especially the two former), Edinburgh 
has been the Gamaliel at whose feet the most eminent 
men of England and America were brought up. 

It is estimated that the members of the legal pro- 
fession form one-third of the population in the higher 
and middle ranks of the society of Edinburgh. 
There are over 450 members of the " Advocates' Fac- 
ulty," many of whom have, however, retired from the 
practice of the profession. The "Writers to the Sig- 
net" Society number about 700 members, of whom 
nearly 500 are in practice. 

Edinburgh has no poverty, no loathesomeness, no 
dilapidated, windowless abodes of dirt and vice, in its 
suburbs. The approach to the city, in all directions, is 
through cultivated and adorned fields and gardens, by 



Letters from Europe. 187 

the side of broad and pleasant avenues. Its poverty 
and filth are pent up in the narrow streets and high, top- 
ling tenements of the old town. 

When I remarked a few days ago that Bristol, in 
England, was distinguished for combinations of modern 
and ancient Architecture, I had not seen Edinburgh, 
a city to which the remark applies with far more effect. 
Here are two distinct cities, one old and dingy and 
ragged — the other new and bright and well dressed ; 
and though divided by a gulf, are yet connected by 
numerous bridges. The old and new towns of Edin- 
burgh are not situated, as I supposed, the former 
upon low ground, and the latter rising up behind it, but 
side by side, or in other words, " cheek by jowl," upon 
parallel hills, between which a deep gulf intervenes. 
The new town is built with much architectural taste 
and care, upon broad streets and around spacious 
squares. There is so much about it looking and speak- 
ing quiet comfort and enjoyment, that I was not sur- 
prised to learn that many of its inhabitants, having 
made fortunes elsewhere, selected Edinburgh as their 
city of refuge. But the new town, beautiful as it is, 
has little of the deep, exciting and absorbing interest 
that attaches to " Auld Reekie," through whose streets 
and courts and closes I wandered with eyes and ears, 
if not mouth wide open. After gazing with amazement 
at lofty buildings with ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen and 
even fourteen " flats," or stories, until my strained eyes 
and dizzy head admonished me to forbear, I mounted 
to the Castle, which is at once the ornament and the 
defense of Edinburgh ; and from which, as far as the 
eye could reach, you overlook fields teeming with veg- 



188 Thurlow "Weed's 

etation and scenes rich in historic incidents — to all, or 
nearly all of which Scott's Poetry or Romance has 
lent enchantment. 

It is not known when this Castle was founded. Though 
apparently impregnable, it was, during the turbulent 
eras in Scottish history, several times taken and retaken. 
The " Regalia of Scotland," a Crown, Sceptre and 
Sword of State — now mere baubles — are kept in the 
Castle. The Room in which Queen Mary gave birth to 
James VI, is also shown to visitors. The enormous 
piece of ancient Artillery called " Mons Meg," cast in 
1463 at Mons, in Flanders, and burst in 1682 in filing a 
salute in honor of a Duke of York, is mounted upon 
the Castle wall. This piece was taken from the Scotch 
by England and kept for nearly a century in the 
Tower of London, but returned to Scotland by George 
IV. There are parts of two regiments stationed 
in the Castle, which has barracks for 2,000, and an 
Armory for 30,000 stands of musketry. 

This reminds me of an incident that amused me yes- 
terday. "While standing at the door of my Hotel a red- 
coated Corporal, with a Drummer and Fifer, passed, 
with a bevy of boys at their heels. I asked the waiter 
if this was a recruiting party 1 " Na, na, sir, they are 
only crying doon their credit." In explanation I 
learned that a detachment of troops had arrived at the 
Castle that day, and that this was the mode of warning 
people not to trust the soldiers ! An English Commer- 
cial Agent standing near remarked that this was " the 
usual custom when they came into a town, but that it 
might safely be dispensed with here, for Sawney would 



Letters from Europe. 189 

take care of himself." The troops whose credit is thus 
cried down, have just returned from China. 

From the Castle we proceeded to Holyrood House, 
which was a palace, you know, when Scotland was an 
independent Kingdom. This once residence of Kings 
and Queens is situated at the eastern end of the old 
Tower fronting the foot of the Canongate, and cutting 
but a sorry figure in an unsightly location. Its bloody 
history is written in so many books that I need not 
dwell upon it. We were shown the Room where Roz- 
zio, after being dragged by Daenley, Ruthven and 
Douglas from the Queen's Supper Table, was assass- 
inated. Formerly visitors were edified with a view of 
the floor stained by the favorite's blood, but the oaken 
plank, more fortunate than Lady Macbeth, whose " lit- 
tle hand " resisted " all the perfumes of Arabia," has 
finally worn " out " the " damned spot." In the Queen's 
sleeping apartment the bed upon which her head found 
"uneasy rest," is still preserved and shown. In the 
Picture Gallery the Portraits of 106 Scottish Kings are 
suspended, most of them executed in a style which 
shows the Arts to have corresponded in barbarity with 
the age and character of the People and then- Monarchs. 
Apartments were fitted up in Holyrood for George 
IV, when he visited Scotland in 1822. The exiled 
King of France (Charles X) with his Family, resided 
here from 1830 to 1833. 

The Abbey of Holyrood is a most interesting Ruin. 
It was founded by King David, in 1128. Here are 
monuments over the remains of King David, King 
James II, King James V, Queen Magdalen, Lord Darn- 
ley, and many other illustrious personages. 



190 Thuelow Weed's 

Passing up the Canongate, you see a Hospital, which 
was once the Palace of the Duke of Queensbury. 
Near this is the Canongate Kirk, a most antique and 
grotesque pile, adjoining winch are the Court Rooms 
and Jail of the Canongate. Farther on is the residence 
of the ancient Earls of Morey, erected in 1618 ; and 
still farther, as you enter Highgate, stands the House of 
John Knox, from the window of which the Reformer 
used to address the multitude standing in the street. 
There is a statue of the great Teacher, rudely sculp- 
tured, now standing at this window. The building is 
now an " omnium gatherum " for those who traffic in 
meats, vegetables, wares, old clothes, beer, &c, &c, 
whose show-boards overlay and nearly obliterate the 
following inscription, cut in freestone by the Reformer : 

Luff. God. above, al. and. your, neiliboio. as. your. self. 

The courts were not in session, but Professor Thomas 
Muebay (to whom the Rev. Dr. Speague gave me a 
kind Letter of introduction) took me through the Cham- 
bers of the Court of Exchequer, the Parliament House, 
the High Court of Justiciary, and the Libraries of the 
Faculty of Advocates and of the Writers to the Signet. 
The Advocates' Library is second only to that of the 
British Museum. It contains 100,000 printed volumes 
and 1,700 volumes in manuscript. Among the latter is 
a beautifully written copy of the Bible, with illumin- 
ated illustrations, bearing date in the 11th century. 
There is also an illuminated manuscript Life of Christ. 
There are numerous original Letters from Mary, Queen 
of Scots, written in 1570, from Loch Levin. Among 
the earliest printed volumes, I saw " The Works of the 
Famous and Worthy Knight, Sir David Lindsey," 



Letters from Europe. 191 

printed in 1632. And "The Acts and Life of the 
most Victorious and Conquering Robert Bruce," 
printed in 1620. The original Covenant of the Church 
of Scotland, bearing the signature of " J. Knox," in a 
strong, bold hand, with those of the other high contract- 
ing parties, is deposited in this Library. 

There is a large collection of American Law Books 
in the Library, in glancing over the catalogue to which, 
I noticed the works of Judges Marshall, Story, Kent, 
Reeve, Conkling, Cowan, Betts, &c. The enlightened 
and amiable Librarian, (David Irving, LL. D., who wor- 
thily succeeds such men as David Hume and Adam 
Furgerson) handed me, with evident satisfaction, an 
Edinburgh copy of Chancellor Kent's Lectures upon 
Commercial Law, of which he spoke in high terms. 
This most extensive and valuable Library derives its 
Fund mainly from the admission fee paid by each 
Advocate on becoming a member of the Faculty. 
Strangers, and Students who are attending Lectures at 
Edinburgh, are allowed to visit the Library and read 
the Books, without expense, and even without intro- 
duction. 

My friend took me to the Desk which Sir Walter 
Scott occupied so long as Clerk of the Court in which 
one of the noble judges (I can't remember which) found 
himself reading " Old Mortality," instead of attending 
to the argument of a complicated Law question* ; 
and where, even now, when the Court is sitting, the 

* One of tho Judges of our own Circuit Courts, to whom the unsoiled ermine 
of a distinguished Judicial Father has descended, is so devout an admirer of 
Sir Walter Scott, that, if no other opportunity for reading him affords, 
would be quite sure to follow the example of his Edinburgh brother. 



192 Thuelow Weed's 

Bench and Bar are constantly interested by recol- 
lections and reminiscences of the bright mental 
luminary around which they all used to revolve. 

Heeeiot's Hospital takes its name from the Philan- 
thropist by whom it was munificently endowed, the 
opulent Jeweler of King James VI, and the " Jingling 
Geordie " of the " Fortunes of Nigel." Heeeiot, 
when dying, said : " For the wealth God has sent me, it 
shall not want inheritors while there are Orphan lads in 
Auld Beekie.'' It is a splendid Edifice, and cost, it is 
said, £27,000. Its generous walls have furnished an 
Asylum for 180 Orphans, during nearly two hundred 
years, who are taught English, Latin, Greek, Mathe- 
matics, &c, &c. Boys are admitted at from 7 to 10, and 
leave at 14, with a Bible and two suits of Clothes. 
Such as go Apprentices, receive £10 a year and £5 
when free. Those designed for Professions are sent to 
College, and receive £30 annually for four years. In 
1836, by act of Parliament, the Surplus Herriot Fund 
was applied to the establishment of Free Schools in the 
different City Parishes, of which seven, with more than 
2,000 children, of both sexes, are now enjoying the 
blessings of instruction. How honorably does the con- 
duct of the Trustees of this Fund contrast with the 
perfidious and criminal waste and squander of the mag- 
nificent bequest of Stephen Gieaed ! If the spirit of 
Franklin could revisit earth, how indignantly would 
it rebuke those who have thus robbed the Orphan 1 
Or if old Stephen Gieaed could rend his cerements, 
how he would make the wretches who have consumed 
his substance and betrayed his Trust, quake and tremble ! 



Letters from Europe. 193 

I sought out the Site of the Old Tolbooth, inter- 
esting alike from its real and its romantic history. It 
stood, until 1817, in the centre of what is now the High 
street, but no vestige of it remains. Its padlock and 
key, I am told,- are preserved in Sir Walter Scott's 
Cabinet of Strange Curiosities at Abbotsford. 

I was attracted into the tap-rooru of a Publican occu- 
pying the first " flat " of a towering old Mansion, whose 
health I drank out of respect for the taste displayed 
in his Sign, which represented, with considerable effect, 
that exquisite scene in the " Heart of Mid-Lothian," 
where " Dumbiedikes," repenting his refusal to supply 
" Jeanie Deans " with the means of defraying her 
expenses to London, mounting his wilyward pony, had 
overtaken her, purse in hand, on the road. And now, 
with my own head and heart as full of that incompar- 
able woman as the stupid Laird whose suit she rejected, 
because, as she informed him, " I canna break my word 
till Reuben Butler, that's Sculemaster at Libberton, if 
ye wad gie me the haile barony of Dalkietk," I fol- 
lowed her out to " Libberton," where " Reuben But- 
ler " had a " Scule," and where, at a moment when time 
was so precious to the Lovers, that omnipresent nui- 
sance, "Saddletree," intruded himself, with the benevolent 
design of using up the poor Schoolmaster's half play 
day in conversation " anent Effie's misfortune." 

While at Libberton, which place is about two miles 
from the centre of Edinburgh, I was informed of an 
instance of Theological patriotism that would have 
made the old " Cameronian cow-feeder," were he alive, 
leap for joy. Observing a dozen stone masons very 
actively engaged in putting up the walls of a small edi- 

25 



194 Thuelow Weed's 

fice, at which as many persons were lookers-on, my 
cabman informed me that they were building a new 
Kirk for a "non-intrusionist" Minister; and on further 
inquiry, I ascertained that this humble Temple was 
designed for an eloquent Preacher who, with a devotion 
worthy of " Reuben Butler," or even of the stoutest 
Cameronians who hid themselves in caverns during the 
" persecuting times," had renounced a living of $3,500 
per annum, with a fine Parsonage House and Glebe, 
rather than compromise his principles ! 

I returned from Libberton by the way of Salsbury 
Crag and Arthur's Seat, than which it is impossible to 
imagine bolder or finer promontories. But I will not 
mock you with any attempt at a description of Arthur's 
Seat, when, by looking into the " Chronicles of the Can- 
ongate," you will find one traced by an inspired pen, 
from which, however, I cannot forbear making an 
extract : 

" A nobler contrast there can hardly exist than that of the huge city, dark 
with the smoke of ages, and groaning with the various sounds of active indus- 
try or idle revel, and the lofty and craggy hill, silent and solitary as the grave ; 
one exhibiting the full tide of existence, pressing and precipitating itself for- 
ward with the force of an inundation ; the other resembling some time-worn 
anchorite, whose life passes as silent and unobserved as some slender rill 
which escapes unheard, and scarce seen, from the fountain of his patron 
saint. The city resembles the busy temple, where the modern Comus and 
Mammon hold their Court, and thousands sacrifice ease, independence, and 
virtue itself, at their shrine ; the misty and lonely mountain seems as a throne 
to the majestic but terrible genius of feudal times, where the same divinities 
dispensed baronets and domains to those who had heads to devise, and arms 
to execute bold enterprises." 

But I will not tell you how carefully I looked for, 
and how satisfactorily I identified the old Cameronian 
cow-feeder's Cottage, and "Nicol Muscat's Cairn," 
where " Jeanie " met " Robertson," and where they 
were surprised by the bloodhounds of the law, under 



Letters from Europe. 195 

the guidance of "Ratcliffe," who managed, however, 
to make " Madge Wildfire " give warning of their 
approach; because, if I should tell you all this, you 
will say that I am a romantic old fool, as I am, when- 
ever I get " The Heart of Mid-Lothian," the " Anti- 
quary," " Guy Mannering," or " Kennilworth " into my 
hand or head. 



196 Thurlow Weed's 



XXII. 

MELROSE (Scotland), August 13, 1843. 

We left Edinburgh in the "Chevy Chase" Coach this 
morning-, and at 11 were set down at the "G-eorge 
Inn," Melrose. The distance is 36 miles over a smooth 
Macadam road, and through a diligently tilled, but not 
fertile soil. 

At half past 12 we left for Abbotsford, three miles 
from the village of Melrose. Abbotsford is concealed 
from view, by a young but dense forest, until you 
approach within ten rods of it, beautifying a seques- 
tered vale at the foot of a graceful declivity, and with- 
in one hundred yards of the river Tweed. The man- 
sion and grounds, so far as their architecture and 
picturesque beauties are concerned, owe their existence 
to the taste and industry of their late illustrious pro- 
prietor, Sir Walter Scott, who found health, relaxation 
and inspiration in the agricultural, arboricultural and 
floral employment of a considerable portion of his 
time. Most of the trees which are now affording a 
grateful shade to the mansion, and give such happy 
effect to the landscape, were set out by Sir Walter 
himself. "He has done things," says Mr. Lockhart, 
"since he came into possession of Abbotsford, which 
would have been reckoned wondrous, even had they 
occupied the whole of a clever and skillful man's atten- 
tion for a still greater number of years." There are 



Letters from Europe. 197 

fine paths and riding ways wending through the forest, 
with poetic waterfalls in the ravines, and benches and 
bowers in which the Poet used to indulge his imagina- 
tion. 

The "Roof-Tree of Monkbarns," as the house has 
been styled, connects itself on three sides with the 
beautiful gardens. Though "a thing of shreds and 
patches" in detail, its general effect is as truly imposing 
as it is chaste and elegant. It abounds too, in histor- 
ical interest, for much of the material of which it was 
constructed was obtained from the various ancient Cas- 
tles, Abbeys and Monasteries that constitute the themes 
and were the theatres of his Poetry and Romance. 
The gateway is in part constructed from materials 
belonging to the ancient Castle of the Douglasses. 
A portion of the walls came from the old Abbey of 
Dumfermline. The hall is floored with black and 
white marble from the Hebrides, and is hung with Arms 
and Armor, as ancient and curious as that to be found 
in the Tower at London. In an adjoining arched room 
you find an endless collection of swords, firelocks, ar- 
rows, darts, daggers, broadswords, claymores, each with 
their sanguinary history. Among these are Rob Roy's 
gun, drinking can and leathern pouch. Here, too, is the 
Padlock and Key of the Tolbooth of Edinburgh. 
These relics of other and darker ages remain precisely 
as Sir Walter disposed them. In the dining-room are 
busts of Shakspeare and Scott. There is also a glori- 
ous portrait of Sir Walter, and his favorite dog Maida, 
by Reaburn, with portraits of Mary, Queen of Scots, 
the Earl of Essex, the Duchess of Buccleugh, &c, &c. 
Near the drawing-room window is a water Fountain in 



198 Thurlow "Weed's 

a green-house, which " in days of yore graced the cross 
of Edinburgh, and used to flow with claret at the 
Coronation of the Stuarts." The splendid furniture of 
the drawing-room is of ebony wood, and was presented 
to the Poet by George IV. The library is an 
oblong some thirty feet by forty, with a roof of carved 
oak. It contains over twenty thousand volumes, classi- 
fied and arranged by him whose mind was imbued with 
their contents. There are two large cases of MSS., one 
of which relate to the Revolutions of 1715 and 1745, 
and the other to Magic, Bemonology, &c. There are 
in the library, copies of the works of all the Authors 
of the present century, from those Authors, with their 
Autographs. 

We were shown into the Waverly Sanctum, a snug, 
quiet apartment, to which there was but one privileged 
visitor. This was Maida, the Poet's favorite and faith- 
ful Dog, of whom there are two portraits, one of which 
is said to be so life-like that the Gamekeeper used to 
insist upon whistling him into the fields. There are 
Books on three sides of this study, and a light stair- 
case by means of which Sir Walter went to and from 
his sleeping apartment without passing through the 
other rooms. There is a portrait of Claverhouse and 
a small full length Painting of Rob Roy in this room. 
The Table, by which, and the Chair in which he sat, 
while writing as man will never write again (for there 
can be but one Scott as there is but one Shakspeaee), 
stand as they did when his lamp of life was put out ! 
Adjoining the sanctum is a small press or closet in 
which he used to hang his overcoat, gun, implements of 
husbandry, &c, in which the clothes last worn are now 



Letters from Europe. 199 

deposited. He was dressed when he was out last with 
Lockhart, in mixed pantaloons, drab coat, plaid vest 
and white hat. These all but sepulchral vestments 
were viewed with melancholy interest. 

Next to the pleasure of seeing " Sir Walter himsel' 
wi' his great fot hond," as Christopher North describ- 
ed a striking Portrait of him, was that I enjoyed "in 
meditation high" about the room in which the great 
intellectual engine of the 19th century wrought so 
many of its prodigies. In the wide world there is no 
spot so hallowed by genius. Here rose the sun whose 
rays were reflected as far as letters are known. This is 
the literary storehouse from which the richest treasures 
were drawn. This the crucible that gave out the pur- 
est gold. Here the noblest creations of the imagination 
were conceived, matured, perfected. This was the 
birthplace of a race that will not die ; for here Waver- 
ly and Mannering and Monkbarns and Ochiltree and 
Meg Merrilles and Pleydell and Bailie Nicol Jar- 
vie and Dugald Dalgetty and Diana Vernon and 
Claverhouse and Lord Evandale and Manse Headrig 
and Jeanie Deans and Saddletree and Madge Wild- 
fire and Caleb Balderstone and Ivanhoe and Rebec- 
ca and Annot Lyle and Tressilian and Amy Robsart 
and Mike Lambourne and Wildrake and Ravenswood 
and Sir Piersie Shafton and Redgauntlet and Anne 
of GriERSTEiN and Norna and the Udellper, with 
many others equally illustrious, were born. 

Sir Walter Scott commenced his literary labors in 
1796, by the translation, from the German language, of 
the works of Burger. In 1799 he translated a Ger- 
man Tragedy and wrote several Ballads, thus trying 



200 Thuelow Weed's 

his "prentice hand." In 1802 his "Minstrelsy of the 
Scottish Border," in 2 volumes, was published. He 
wrote Reviews of several new works that year. " Sir 
Tristram," by Thomas the Rhymer, appeared in 1804. 
In 1805 came "The Lay of the Last Minstrel," with 
numerous Reviews. In 1806 "Ballads and Lyrical 
Poems," with additional Reviews. In 1808, "Marmi- 
on," with a "Life of Dryden," and other works pub- 
lished under his auspices with notes. In 1809 he 
edited and published the works of different Authors, 
running 1 through 16 volumes, and wrote several Re- 
views. In 1810, "The Lady of the Lake" was 
produced, together with " English Minstrelsy," in 2 
volumes, Miss Seward's Life and Works in 5 volumes, 
and more Reviews. In 1811, the "Vision of Don 
Roderick," with the "Secret History of the Coru-t of 
King James I." In 1812, "Rokeby." In 1813, "The 
Bride of Treirman." In 1814, "Waverly," with the 
" Life of Dean Swift," " Memoir of the Somervilles," 
and several other works. In 1815, "Guy Mannering," 
" The Lord of the Isles," the Field of Waterloo, and a 
popular song. In 1816, "The Antiquary," "Paul's 
Letters to his Kinsfolk," first series of " Tales of My 
Landlord," and the " Edinburgh Annual Register." In 

1817, "Rob Roy," "Harold the Dauntless," " Border 
Antiquities," with other works of less magnitude. In 

1818, "The Heart of Mid-Lothian," "Antiquities of 
Scotland," "The Scottish Regalia," with several Re- 
views. In 1819, "The Bride of Lammermoor" and 
the "Legend of Montrose," "Ivanhoe," with other 
works. In 1 820, the " Monastery," " The Abbot," " Lives 
of the Novelists" and "The Visionary." In 1821, 



Letters from Europe. 201 

" Kennilworth," " The Pirate," " Coronation of George 
IV," and other works.' In 1822, "The Fortunes of Ni- 
gel," "Halidon Hill," and "Memoirs of the Civil Wars 
in 1653." In 1823. "Peveril op the Peak," "Quen- 
tin Durward," "St. Ronan's Well," and an " Essay on 
Romance." In 1824, "Red Gauntlet" and a tribute to 
the memory of "Lord Byron." In 1825, "Tales of 
the Crusaders," "Woodstock," with Reviews and songs. 
In 1826, "Letters of Malachi Malagrowther," Chroni- 
cles op the Canongate" (first series), "Life of Napo- 
leon Bonaparte" and Reviews, In 1827, "Tales of a 
Grandfather," "Essays on Agricultural and Ornamental 
Gardening," "Reply to Gen. Gourgaud," and "Miscel- 
laneous Prose Works." In 1828, "Chronicles of the 
Canongate" (second series), "Tales of a Grandfather" 
(second series), "Religious Discourses"* and Reviews. 
In 1829, "Anne of Gierstein," "Tales of a Grand- 
father" (third series), "History of Scotland," "The 
Waverly Novels, with new Introductions and Notes." 
In 1830, "The Doom of Devorgoil, " " Demonology and 
Witchcraft," "Tales of a Grandfather" (fourth series), 
History of Scotland (second vol.), with elaborate Re- 
views. In 1831, "Tales of My Landlord" (fourth 
series). 

This list, formidable as it is, by no means comprises 
all the works that emanated from Sir Walter Scott. 
There was a vast quantity of incidental matter, in 
addition to the gigantic amount of intellectual labor 
which this long catalogue of Books exhibits, appearing 

* The sermons were written for a young clergyman (Me. Gorden), who 
subsequently obtained Sir Walter's leave to publish them for his own (G.'s) 
benefit. 



202 Thurlow Weed's 

simultaneously in the magazine and newspapers. Nor 
was this his only employment, for while these works 
dropped from his pen, like ripe fruit from an over- 
burthened tree, he was discharging his duties as Clerk 
of a busy Court and Sheriff of his county, and was active- 
ly engaged in improving and cultivating his grounds. 
The Character of Sir Walter Scott, viewed in any 
of the varied and even chequered aspects that it presents 
itself to the world, excites the highest admiration. His 
genius derives lustre from his virtues. When, after he 
supposed himself in possession of an independence, he 
was overtaken by pecuniary misfortune, with what 
lion-hearted firmness he met the shock, and relying 
upon his pen, determined to work through an appalling 
load of debts. See with what true philosphy he writes 
in his Journal: 

January 22. — I feel neither dishonored nor broken down by the bad — now 
really bad news I have received. I have walked my last on the domains I 
have planted — sat the last time in the Halls I have built. But death would 
have taken them from me if misfortune had spared them. There is just 
another die to turn np against me in this run of ill luck — i. e., if I should 
break my magic wand in the fall from this elephant and lose m} r popularity 
with my fortune [***** g u t j g 11( j m y e y e3 moistening, and that 
will not do. I will not yield without a fight for it. When I set myself to 
work doggedly, as Dr. Johnson would have said, I am just the same man I 
ever was." 

Again, when negotiations were pending with his 
creditors, Sir Walter says : 

" If they permit me I will be their vassal for life, and dig in the mine of my 
imagination to find diamonds (or what may sell for suchj to make good my 
engagements." 

And again : 

"Now that the shock of discovery is over and passed, I am much better off 
on the whole. I feel as if I had shaken off my shoulders a great mass of gar- 
ments — rich, indeed but always more a burthen thaD a comfort. * * * 



Letters from Europe. 203 

If I could see those about me as indifferent to the loss of rank and fortune 
as I am, I should be completely happy. As it is, Time must salve that sore, 
and to Time I trust it. * * * * A most generous letter from Walter 
and Jane, offering to interpose with their fortune, &c. God Almighty for- 
bid! — that were too unnatural in me to accept, though dutiful and affection- 
ate in them to offer." 

And again: 

"Feb. 3. — This is the first time since my troubles that I felt at 
awakening, 

' I had drunken deep 
Of all the blessedness of sleep.'t 
I made not the slightest pause, nor dreamed a single dream, nor even 
changed my side. This is a blessing to be grateful for." 

When the pecuniary calamity came upon him, and 
like Byron, he saw his "household gods shivered" around 
him, Sir Walter was engaged upon Woodstock. 
After his affairs had been put into the hands of Trustees, 
he "returned to the wheel," and on the 4th of February 
said: 

"From the 19th of January, to the 2d of February inclusive, is exactly 
fifteen days, during which time, with the intervention of some days' idleness, 
to let imagination brood on the task a little, I have written a volume. A 
volume, at cheapest is worth £1,000. This is working at the rate of £24,000 
a year ! but then we must not bake buns faster than people have appetites to 
eat them. They are not essential to the market, like potatoes." 

From this time forward Sir Walter labored with 
indomitable energy to extinguish a debt, from the coin- 
age of his brain, of more than £300,000, for which he 
had become liable by his business relations with Con- 
stable & Co., and Balantyne & Co. But the labor 
was too severe even for his herculean mental and phy- 
sical powers. There were admonitions of the fate 
which awaited him as early as 1826, as may be seen 
by a note in his private Journal: 

t Mr. O'Connell must have borrowed this idea in the remark he made to 
us at Dublin, which I quoted in a former letter. 



204 Thuelow Weed's 

"March 14. — What a detestable feeling this fluttering of the heart is I I 
know it is nothing organic, and that it is entirely nervous ; but the eifeots of 
it are sickening to a degree. Is it the body brings it on the mind, or is it 
the mind that inflicts it on the body ?" 

The result of Sir Walter's literary labors, from Jan- 
uary, 1826, to January, 1828, was a dividend of six 
shillings sterling on the pound to his creditors, amount- 
ing in the aggregate to £40,000, or 8200,000 ! What 
other Author ever did or ever will realize such another 
sum from his own intellectual labors 1 For this illustri- 
ous demonstration of genius, industry and integrity, 
the Creditors, as well they might, " unanimously voted 
him their thanks." After this dividend had been made, 
his private Journal says : 

" I see before me a long, tedious and dark path, but it leads to stainless 
reputation. If I die in the harrows, as is very likely, I shall die with hon- 
or. If I achieve my task, I shall have the thanks of all concerned, and the 
approbation of my own conscience." 

But human faculties, though with all the strength 
and tenacity of iron and steal, may be over-taxed as 
were those with which nature endowed Sir Walter 
Scott. Some of the rapacious creditors who made 
merchandise of his brain, to use his own burning figure, 
" treated me like a recusant turnspit, and put a red hot 
cinder into the wheel alongt with me." And finally, 
the "feather which breaks the camel's back" having 
been added to Sir Walter's burthen, he was struck 
down by paralysis, and after lingering a few months, 
was gathered to his fathers. How painfully sublime to 
the sorrowing friends who surrounded him, must have 
been the breaking of that athletic frame, the quench- 
ing of that towering spirit, the going out of that " light 
which no Promethean spark can relume V 



Letters from Europe. 205 

We followed Sir Walter from Abbotsford, the 
theatre of his glorious achievements, to Dryburgh, 
whose ruined Abbey is hallowed by his Dust. How 
appropriately chosen for the final repose of such pre- 
cious remains? What monument so fitting and expres- 
sive as the crumbling walls, and lofty, but silent, towers 
of an Ancient Scottish Abbey ! Dust to Dust ! Ashes to 
Ashes ! Ruin to Ruin ! 

Dryburgh Abbey has a romantic location, about five 
miles from Abbotsford, upon the River Tweed, in a 
wood whose foliage conceals it from view until you 
approach its ivy-protected walls. It was founded in 
1150, by Hugh De Moreyille, Constable of Scotland, 
upon a site previously devoted to Druidical Worship. 
Edward II, in his retreat from an unsuccessful invasion 
of Scotland, in 1322, burnt the Abbey, which was re- 
built by Robert I, and again partially destroyed by 
the English in 1544. In 1604 the Abbey became the 
property and residence of the Earl of Mar. It now 
belongs to the Earl of Buchan, who is a relative of the 
late Sir Walter and who resides near it. The remains 
of Sir Walter repose by the side of his Wife (who 
died about five years earlier), in St. Mary's aisle, one 
of the most solitary, and yet striking features of the 
Abbey. The day after the Funeral of "his poor Char- 
lotte," the widowed Poet said in his Journal: 

" The whole scene floats as a sort of dream before me — The beautiful day, 
the grey ruins covered and hidden among clouds of foliage, where the grave, 
even in the lap of beauty, lay lurking, gaping for its prey." 

Sir Walter Scott's youngest Daughter, of whom 
there is a most spirited Portrait at Abbotsford, as is 
known, survived her Father's death but a few months, 



206 Thurlow "Weed's 

and Mrs. Lockhart died in 1837. Two Sons, one a 
Lieut-Colonel in the British Army, and the other an 
under Secretary in the Foreign Office, are all that re- 
main of this Family. Abbotsford, though still incum- 
bered, will continue the property of the present Sir 
Walter. The copyright of the Waverly Novels has 
extinguished much of the debt since the Author's death, 
and will, should Parliament extend the laws protecting 
this species of property, ultimately wipe out the entire 
amount. 

But perhaps I am exhausting the patience of those 
whose admiration of Sir Walter Scott, and all that is 
connected with his writings, his character and his 
memory, is less enthusiastic than my own ; and though 
I never weary in reading or writing of the Author of 
Waverly, I will not hazard, at this sitting, a heavier 
draft upon the good nature of my friends. 



Letters feom Europe. 207 



XXIII. 

LONDON, August 24, 1843. 

I had intended, just before the sailing of the next 
steamer, to throw together whatever there might be in 
the way of news here for the benefit of your readers, 
but as we are on the wing for Paris several days 
earlier than I expected, my news will be old if not stale. 

Let the American Millers and Flour Merchants take 
my word for one thing, which is, that unless the weather 
for the next ten days should be horridly bad, the crops 
in England, Ireland and Scotland will prove more abun- 
dant than they have been in many years. I have 
crossed England in three directions, Ireland in two, and 
traveled nearly 300 miles in Scotland. The " Corn," as 
they call it (though there is not a blade nor an ear 
growing in either of the three Kingdoms), is, in all these 
Islands, filling and ripening auspiciously. In England, 
full one-half of the crop is already secured. 

Parliament, which threatened to become a " Rump," 
has finally brought its slow length to an end. The 
forms of Prorogation, by the Queen, were gone through 
with to-day. The Members had generally taken them- 
selves away to their Castles and Lodges and Preserves. 
It is difficult to keep the Nobility and Gentry in Lon- 
don after the 12th of August, when the "Grouse shoot- 
ing" commences. 



208 Thuelow Weed's 

This going in state, of the Queen, to prorogue Par- 
liament, is a very gorgeous affair. It is one of the 
pageants of Royalty that amuse John Bull wonderfully. 
I hired a chair in a balcony to see the Queen pass and 
repass, in a coach that cost, at the least, half a million of 
dollars, drawn by horses whose caparisoning would 
more than pay the salary of the Governor of our State 
for two years. 

This long session of Parliament has been entirely 
barren of all useful legislation. If the marked cold- 
ness with which the Queen was received may be 
regarded as an indication of the popular feeling, Sir 
Robert Peel's ministry is most decidedly unpopular. 
Or if the leading London journals speak the sentiment 
of the Nation, the Premier has become emphatically 
odious. 

It has been the habit, for more years than you or I 
can remember, to apprehend the overthrow of the Brit- 
ish monarchy. I shall not presume to express any such 
opinions ; but unless I am grossly deceived, there are 
elements in operation which cause much solicitude. 

The Prince de Joinville of France, whose visit 
created quite a stir here, has departed so abruptly as to 
cause much speculation. It is conjectured that the arri- 
val of Espartero, the exiled Regent of Spain, who is 
to be received at Court, hastened the leave-taking of 
the French Prince. The newspapers say that the French 
Prince came to invite the Queen of England to pay 
Louis Philippe a visit, and that her Majesty has accept- 
ed the invitation. 

The good Father Mathew, who has been scattering 
his Temperance blessings through England for two 



Letters from Europe. 209 

months, is just now encountering the hostility of Church 
and State in this Metropolis. The Church affects to 
fear the spread of Romanism with the increase of Tem- 
perance ; and the State thinks it has discovered a Repeal 
clause in the Temperance Pledge ! But the lazy, ease- 
loving Clergy will soon forget their alarm, and the Pol- 
itician will start some other phantom, while the great 
Temperance Reformer, regardless of embarrassments and 
hindrances, will go on steadily and faithfully, imparting 
gladness and joy, and conferring food and raiment upon 
his tens and hundreds of thousands. I wish you could 
see this truly amiable man — and you mil see him 
when he arrives in America. In face, form and man- 
ners there is more to win confidence and affection, and 
awaken respect and admiration, than I have ever met 
before ; and he is as good and as pure as he seems. 

London, considering what a Babylon it is, in many 
respects has surprised me much by the good order and 
tranquility that prevail. You walk the streets here, 
day or night, without seeing half the disorder and vio- 
lence that is to be met with in New York. Nor is there, 
comparatively, a tenth part of the crime committed 
here. I attribute these advantages, in a good degree, 
to the excellence of the London Police. I wish you 
could see how admirably their system works, and what 
a fine, intelligent, discreet, and yet efficient body of men 
are organized under that system. Oliver M. Lownds, 
Esq., of your city, who is here, and whose duties as 
Sheriff and Police Magistrate, have made him familiar 
with this question, says that by the organization of a 
Police similar, in most respects, to that in London, New 

York might preserve good order and quiet, greatly 

27 



210 Thurlow Weed's 

diminish the evils of gambling houses, and prevent a 
vast amount of crime. 

"Repudiation" subjects an American to many morti- 
fications abroad. If the citizens of Pennsylvania knew 
what a reproach they have brought upon then Coun- 
try, I am sine that from very shame they would 
promptly redeem their faith. It is not the loss of the 
money that the English capitalists regard, half as much 
as our shameless refusal to pay ! The money is not 
wanted. An open, frank, full avowal, by the default- 
ing States, of a determination to pay then debt, though 
they may be now unable to provide even the interest, 
would go far to retrieve American character from the 
infamy of "Repudiation." The British Government is 
infinitely worse off than Pennsjdvania, or Illinois, or 
Indiana. Its National Debt is never to be paid. But 
she provides faithfully for the payment of interest, and 
would regard a whisper of Repudiation as high treason. 

English manufacturers and merchants reproach then- 
own government rather than ours for the depression of 
business and trade by reason of our Tariff. I was 
equally surprised and gratified to find wealthy and 
intelligent English manufacturers express just and fair 
sentiments upon this subject. 

Could our Free Trade People hear intelligent, prac- 
tical men on this side of the Atlantic, talk upon this 
subject, they would blush to find themselves advocating 
Free Trade in favor of a nation whose policy is emi- 
nently restrictive. And could those who believe, or 
pretend to believe, that the consumer of imported arti- 
cles pays the duty, hear the language of the manufac- 
turer of these articles, we should see the end of that 



Letters from Europe. 211 

fallacy. It is truly amazing- that not even the evidence 
of facts and figures, of dollars and cents, can dispel this 
delusion. The Free Trade politicians, like fanatics in 
religion, have found "a dear falsehood," and they "hug 
it to the last." But were they here, among manufac- 
turers, they could not keep their eyes closed to the fact 
that a Tariff is not a tax upon those who consume the 
articles subject to duty. 

England is far more extensively Agricultural than I 
had supposed. And this interest is the great obstacle to 
the even more boundless extent of her Commerce and 
Manufactures ; for it is not here, as with us, that the 
Agriculturists are the yeomanry of the country. The 
Lands, you know, are owned by the Nobility, while 
those who cultivate the soil are scarcely a remove above 
the "Grurths" and "Wambas" who formerly wore the col- 
lars of Athelstane and Cedric. Having entire control of 
one of the Legislative branches of the Government, 
there will be no voluntary relinquishment of or relaxa- 
tion in a policy which virtually prohibits the Agricul- 
tural products of Nations upon whom England relies 
to purchase her Manufactures. There is, however, to 
be a great conflict between these classes, whose interests 
are becoming more and more fatally hostile. 



Paris, August 29. 

Since this letter was commenced, by the agency of 
steam, that element which brings States and Nations 
into each other's neighborhood, I have been transferred 
from the Metropolis of England to that of France — 



212 Thurlow Weed's 

"beautiful France." "We came direct from London to 
Havre (230 miles) by a steamer, in 19 hours; from 
Havre to Rouen (90 miles) by steamer, and from Rouen 
to Paris (100 miles) by Railway. 

The weather is in the highest degree favorable to the 
crops here. The Peasantry, between Havre and Paris, 
as we passed, were busy in their fields. Their modes 
of harvesting are, however, exceeding primitive. A 
farmer of Western New York would be amused to see 
a French harvest field. The grain is cut (by men and 
Avomen) with a sickle, and after being raked and bound 
very clumsily, the sheaves are placed in a sort of rack 
on a donkey's back, who carries them to a street where 
they are loaded into a wagon and taken home. The 
work done in an Ontario or Genesee wheat field, by 
four men, occupies at least 24 here. 

The French are much charmed with the contemplated 
visit of Queen Victoria to Louis Philippe, at Ins Villa, 
which they confidently expect. 

The sudden departure of the Prince de Joinville 
from Windsor was owing to the arrival of Espartero. 
It is said that the King of France proposes the alliance 
of his youngest son with the still younger Queen of 
Spain. 

You will have heard, ere this reaches you, of the 
rebuff given at Dublin to one of your neighbors. The 
blow rebounded throughout England, the London 
papers having all copied what Mr. O'Connell said, 
approvingly. This makes a finish of the Herald in 
Europe. 



Letters from Europe. 213 

I see that you are republishing my hastily written 
and crude Letters from the Evening Journal. It will 
not be decent, therefore, to double dose your readers. 
So adieu. 



214 Thurlow Weed's 



XXIV. 

DUBLIN, August 2, 1843. 

Loyal National Repeal Association. — Such is the 
title of an Association that holds weekly meetings at 
the Corn Exchange in this city. It assembles more for 
Action than for display. It is the Repeal Executive 
Committee, or perhaps I may better call it Ireland's 
" Committee of Safety." I had the good fortune to be 
present during its proceedings, for three hours, yes- 
terday, and will give you an abstract of them. 

The Association met at 12 o'clock. Within fifteen 
minutes the Hall was literally packed. The Liberator, 
who attended a meeting at Castlebar the day before, 
and who had 114| Irish miles to ride, to get back to 
Dublin, arrived at 3 o'clock, and was received with 
hearty acclamations. 

The officers of the Association made their Reports 
of Letters, &c, inclosing various amounts of Repeal 
money from Clergymen, Gentry, Mechanics, Laborers, 
Waiters, Women, &c. Among the donations was a 
handsome one from a Lady, it being the proceeds of her 
Strawberry Garden, for which the Association voted 
her its thanks. Votes of thanks and Diplomas were 
tendered to several patriotic Ladies who had been dis- 
tinguished for their efforts in favor of Repeal. 

The Preliminary business over, Mr. O'Connell (who 
was attended by the " Head Pacificator," Thomas 



Letters from Europe. 215 

Steele) rose, as lie said, to produce his Budget. It 
was not like the Chancellor of the Exchequer's Budget, 
telling where and how money must be obtained, but 
the Budget of moneys received from Castlebar, where 
the demonstration in favor of Repeal was as enthusi- 
astic and triumphant as any he had witnessed. The 
meeting was attended by the Bishops and the Cath- 
olic Clergy of the surrounding country. It was 
attended, too, by "John of Tuam," who delivered, in 
the day time, one of the best Sermons on Education he 
(Mr. O'C.) had ever listened to, and in the evening, one 
of the best Speeches on Repeal that was ever uttered by 
a human being. The Bishop of Tuam stated a fact 
which ought to be known far and near. The College 
of Maynooth is in debt. That debt the Government 
had authorized Lord Eliot to pay — for a quid pro quo! 
But the offer had been spurned in the same indignant 
spirit that prompted American patriots to spurn the 
bribes offered dming their struggle for Freedom. 

After describing, in glowing terms, the mighty gath- 
erings of Repealers at Galway and Tuam, Mr. O'C. 
spoke of the admirable arrangements for the meeting, 
and the still more admirable conduct of the People of 
Castlebar, where he was able, from his eligible position, 
to convey his voice to a greater number of Repealers 
than it had ever reached before. And what was to him 
a source of the highest gratification, every hearer was a 
Teetotaler ! There was not a drop of Whisky drank 
in Castlebar that day ! These " signs," together with 
the glorious demonstrations from Connaught, must be 
hailed as the forerunners of the restoration of the Irish 
Parliament in College Green. 



216 Thurlow Weed's 

Mr. O'Connell then proceeded to read Letters and 
hand over to the Treasurer the sums of money, large 
and small, that he had received during the week, 
amounting in the aggregate to two thousand and four 

POUNDS TEN SHILLINGS AND EIGHTPENCE HALFPENNY. 

This announcement was received with tremendous cheer- 
ing. Funds, you see, at the rate of $40,000 a month, 
flow into the Repeal Treasury. Among these contribu- 
tions were £270 from St. Johns, Newfoundland, and 
£20 from Worcester, Mass., with Letters breathing 
such generous sympathy and ardent patriotism that 
they were valued even more highly than the money. 

Perhaps I over-estimate the importance of this 
Repeal movement. Perhaps the concentrated voices of 
more than 7,000,000 of People will not be heard, or if 
heard, will only excite the derision or provoke the chas- 
tisement of their Rulers. It is possible that sympathy 
for the oppressed and' hatred of the oppressors may ren- 
der me blind to the course and consequences of these 
demonstrations. But unless my vision and judgment 
are both clouded, England cannot close either her eyes 
or her ears to the progress of this War of Opinion. 
A wave of popular sentiment is rolling up into colossal 
dimensions and strength. This, with a clear sea, excites 
admiration rather than awe ; but when breakers offer 
resistance, destruction will be the inevitable consequence. 
This movement is eminently peaceful. Millions of men 
are instructed to be obedient to all laws. They are 
imbued with a conviction that the natural and inher- 
ent justice of their cause, accompanied by a pacific 
declaration of their rights, will procure the Repeal. 
" Every man who commits crime gives strength to the 



Letters fkom Europe. 217 

enemy," is inscribed upon the Banners and impressed 
upon the memories of the Eepealers. Such admoni- 
tions constrain men to obey even obnoxious laws. 
And in this way the Government is kept doubly in the 
wrong. 

But when and how is all to terminate 1 This is a 
pregnant question. Repeal cannot and will not, any 
more than revolutions, go backwards. The Army of 
Repealers are now amenable to reason and argument, 
because they know themselves to have the right side of 
the question, and believe that reason and argument 
is to prevail. When, however, these expectations shall 
be disappointed; when their patience exhausts itself; 
and when " hope deferred " has made " the heart sick," 
what are to be the consequences 1 I will not attempt 
to predict. But I may say, what a sojourn in Ireland 
will teach any observer, that calm and quiet as is the 
surface of things here, there are volcanic fires beneath 
that may be ignited by a spark. Yes, a train might 
be fired that would set all Ireland in a blaze. Men 
are quiet, and will talk calmly with you about their 
wrongs ; but this is because they are so instructed, and 
not that they are irresolute or pusillanimous. There 
is not a man who pays his money for Repeal, that would 
not just as readily pay his blood, if that was required. 

It is impossible to breathe Irish atmosphere without 
inhaling Irish principles. You have practical evidences 
and painful illustrations of the civil and religious justice 
and equity of these principles. Here is a People 
national in everything but their Government. They 
are endowed, by nature and cultivation, with all the 
attributes and qualities requisite for self-government. 

28 



218 Thuelow Weed's 

They have learned all the arts of civilization. They 
enjoy all the advantages and know how to avail them- 
selves of all the facilities of commerce and manu- 
factures. Their lot was cast upon a soil of surpassing 
fertility. And yet they are restrained from the exer- 
cise of these attributes and withheld from the enjoyment 
of these blessings ! 

I should utterly fail in an attempt to describe the 
intensity of the Repeal feeling here. It pervades all 
classes, cheers all hearts, and absorbs all other thoughts. 
The shipman pays a share of his scanty receipts into 
the Repeal Treasury. The Mechanic carries forward 
his Repeal offering. The Laborer, though more than 
half the time unemployed, when fortunate enough to 
earn five or six shillings in a week, goes home with it 
on Saturday night, and is not allowed by his wife to use 
a penny for the food which she and her children stand 
in need of, until his dues, as a Repeal Associate, have 
been paid. And among the most gratifying features in 
this generous devotion of their hard earnings to a great 
public object, is the fact mentioned to me by an intelli- 
gent laborer to-day, that " but for Father Mathew, the 
money which now goes to help us to the Repeal, would 
have been spent for whisky." 

There was an attempt made in England, and in some 
parts of America, to arrest Repeal contributions, by 
alleging that the Fund was not properly used. Do not 
listen to such accusations. They are calumnies. Every 
pound and shilling, every dollar and cent, is carefully 
and honestly invested. And there will be legitimate 
uses for it all. No great work can be earned forward 
without means. 



Letters from Europe. 219 

The presence of half a dozen Americans, at the 
Eepeal meeting yesterday, afforded much and evi- 
dent gratification. Indeed, it was only by assuring 
them that we were humble citizens, desirous of seeing 
without being seen, that a popular demonstration of 
their regard for Americans was prevented. 

S went with me this morning to the Liberator's 

House on Marion Square, where we found him hard at 
work, assisted by Mr. Steele, the " Head Pacificator," 
a Protestant Repealer of whose personal attachment to 
Mr. O'Connell, hatred of Oppression and whole- 
hearted devotion to the cause of Irish Liberty, I had 
occasion to speak in a former Letter, 

Mr. O'Connell is getting together the material for a 
strong speech at the Corn Exchange on Friday. 
Among other things, after paying his respects to some 
"Noble Lords," he will draw parallels between American 
and Irish History, showing that in the case of America, 
England always made her reluctant and grudging con- 
cessions too late ; that influenced by their fears and 
necessities, rather than from considerations of duty 
and justice, Ministers never conceded one point until 
America had become strong enough to demand two ; 
and in this way to warn the present Ministry to profit 
by the costly experience of a former one. It is prob- 
able, also, that he will then say something in reply to 
the sensitiveness manifested at Baltimore, Charleston, 
&c, in relation to slavery; not, however, to qualify 
or soften things, for his sentiments on the subject of 
slavery are as stern and uncompromising as upon 
Repeal. 

I was struck when I saw Mr. O'Connell, first, as I 



220 Thurlow Weed's 

was yesterday, and again to-day, with bis strong resem- 
blance in voice, expression and manner, to our own 
distinguished fellow citizen, Gen. Peter B. Porter. 

All that I have seen and heard of this extraordinary 
man, in Ireland and England, serves but to increase my 
admiration for his talents and his character. Tbat he is 
a true and unpurchasable Irish Patriot I have no 
shadow of doubt. And that he is destined by Provi- 
dence, in some wise way, to work out and perfect the 
restoration of Ireland to the Family of Nations, I most 
undoubtingly believe. 



Letters from Europe. 221 



XXV. 

MELROSE, August 13, 1843. 

No brighter sun ever rose to bless and beautify the 
Earth, than that which dawns upon us this Sabbath 
morning. Nor is it possible to breathe an atmosphere 
more bracing and balmy than that which refreshes and 
gladdens our spirits. The view from Eildon Hill, at 
the foot of which Melrose reposes, is one of surpassing 
beauty. Every object within the vision's reach, has 
been made classic by the inspirations of Poetry and 
Romance. Beyond the Tweed, the hills of Ettrick and 
Yarrow are seen. Upon its banks the ruined Abbeys 
of Melrose and Dryburgh yet lift up their broken 
towers and crumbling walls. And in every direction 
you identify points, or features, or objects, with which 
the imagination had been made familiar either in " Mar- 
mion," the " Monastery " or " St. Ronan's Well." 

On our return from Dryburgh Abbey yesterday, we 
learned that there was to be Preaching to-day in Mel- 
rose Abbey ! Our visit to this magnificent ruin was, 
therefore, gladly deferred, that we might have the 
unexpected privilege of attending Church in a Temple 
erected eight hundred years ago, and where, for more 
than two hundred years, the voice of Thanksgiving and 
Prayer had scarcely been heard. 

At half-past 10 o'clock this morning, the rusty bell 
which yet hangs in the Abbey tower, with hoarse and 
feeble voice summoned the congregation. Temporary 



222 Thurlow Weed's 

seats had been ranged on the green grass-carpeted area 
of the Abbey. At 11 the service commenced. Two 
discourses were preached, one from the Old and the 
other from the New Testament. Both were purely 
doctrinal. No allusion was made, either in the Prayers 
or the Sermons, to the circumstance that a Christian 
Ministry of the 19th century was proclaiming, to an 
enlightened people, the open and widely diffused truths 
of Revelation, upon the very graves of those who, in 
by-gone centuries, and in a dark age, were practicing 
mysterious rites and barbarous orgies upon their 
deluded and besotted followers. 

But though the Preacher was as literal in his texts 
and contexts, as any "Kittle Drummle" or "Muckle- 
wrath" that ever edified a congregation of Covenanters, 
I doubt whether the imaginations of his hearers could 
be restrained. What an occasion was here for an his- 
torical discourse 1 And how deeply I regretted that 
some of our own eloquent Divines were not standing 
in the shoes of this very worthy, but exceedingly unim- 
aginative Clergyman? 

The presence of so many strangers disturbed the 
Swallows, Wrens, and other birds that have for so 
many ages had undisputed possession of the Ruin. They 
were flying, fluttering and singing above our heads 
during the service. Nor did their natural melody min- 
gle unharmoniously with the voices of those singing 
the praises of their Creator with a more intelligent and 
responsible sense of His perfections and power. The 
" delicate air," the " lov'd mansionry" of birds, and the 
scene — a Scottish Ruin — recalled vividly to memory 
this beautiful and not inapplicable passage in Macbeth : 



Letters from Europe. 223 

Duncan. This castle hath a pleasant seat : the air 
Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself 
Unto our gentle senses. 

Banquo. This guest of summer, 

The temple-haunting martlet, does approve, 
By hislov'd mansionry, that the heaven's breath 
Smells wooingly here : no jutty, frieze, 
Buttress, -nor coigne of vantage, but this bird 
Hath made his pendant bed, and procreant cradle : 
Where they most breed and haunt, I have observ'd, 
The air is delicate. 

Melrose Abbey has its literal and its romantic history. 
For the latter, it is indebted to the creative genius ,of 
the Author of Waverly, in his "Monastery." The 
former, is written among the annals of fire, rapine and 
blood. It was founded in 1136, and is esteemed the 
finest specimen of Gothic Architecture in Scotland. 
King David conferred it upon Monks of the Cistercian 
order, by whom it was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. 
It was plundered and desecrated by the English army 
under Edward II, in 1322, but repaired by Robert 
Bruce, whose Heart was subsequently deposited here. 
In 1382 it was burnt by the English under Richard II. 
It was again rebuilt, only to be plundered again by Lord 
Evers in 1545, and subsequently almost wholly 
destroyed by the Earl of Hartford. And during the 
civil wars, while affording an Asylum to the inhabitants, 
it was bombarded by Cromwell. But even yet, much 
of its massive masonry remains, and it still abounds in 
ancient statuary and carvings of exquisite workman- 
ship. The Abbey is 287 feet long, 195 feet wide, and 
943 in circumference. The tombs of Alexander II, 
of St. Waldene, its second Abbot, and many of the 
Douglases, who were buried here, are yet preserved 
and identified. The Abbey and lands around it are 



224 Thuelow Weed's 

the property of the Duke of Buccleugh, who looks 
carefully to their preservation. In obedience to the 
following poetic direction of Sir Waltee Scott, in his 
Lay of the Last Minstrel : 

" If thou would'st view fair Melrose aright, 
Go visit it by the pale moonlight ; 
For the gay beams of lightsome day 
Gild, but to flout, the ruins grey," 

We obtained the Abbey keys and returned to view its 
Ruins at 10 o'clock in the evening, by the "pale moon- 
light." Now it was a Ruin in all its solitude and sub- 
limity. The moon's beams were reflected through 
portals and windows, casting a mellowed light upon 
canopies, pedestals and niches, with chiseled or carved 
Apostles, Saints, Abbots, &c, &c, with which the 
Abbey abounds. The choir or chancel, which is still 
preserved, displays the happiest architectural taste ; and 
the eastern window, that looks out upon the rising sun, 
is very magnificently constructed. In describing this 
portion of the Abbey, the Poet says : 

" The moon on the east oriel shone 
Through slender shafts of shapely stone 

By foliaged tracery combined : 
Thou would'st have thought some fairy's hand 
'Twixt poplars straight and osier wand 

In many a freakish knot had twined ; 
Then framed a spell when the work was done, 
And changed the willow wreaths to stone." 

Having lingered for nearly an hour amid these soli- 
tudes, almost as silent ourselves as the mighty dead upon 
whose sepulchres we were treading, we returned to our 
Hotel and our pillows, where the objects that had 
absorbed our waking thoughts, came trooping back in 
dreams and visions. 



Letters feom Europe. 225 

In <rar visit to Dry-burgh Abbey, we were rowed 
across the Tweed by an old Lady who has officiated as 
the "Charon" to this River for nearly thirty years. 
She had often, she said, ferried Sir W alter over, who 
came sometimes to show the Abbey to strangers, and 
sometimes to wander about its ruins alone. 

Newcastle-upon-Tyne, August 15. 

Having passed two delightful days at Melrose, we 
left Scotland in the coach after breakfast yesterday, 
without having seen many of its places and objects of 
interest, partly because we had several days of bad 
weather, but mainly because of the infirmity which 
restrains my pedestrian habits and inclinations. My 
intended visit to Falkirk, Sterling Castle and Bannock- 
burn, was interrupted by two days of constant and 
heavy rains. Of some of these great historical land- 
marks we had distant views. The sanguinary field of 
Bannockburn is seen from the Railway in your approach 
to Edinburgh, and in crossing the hills near Melrose, 
many striking objects are pointed out, among which 
are Nidpath Castle, Ravenswood Castle, Mount Bengar, 
(formerly the residence of the Ettrick Shepherd) and 
the crystal Lake where Wordsworth says : 

" The swans on sweet St. Mary's Lake, 
" Float double — swan and shadow." 

Thirteen miles from Melrose we came to the ruins of 
Jedburgh Abbey, situated upon a romantic rock, by 
the side of the miniature River Jed, at the western end 
of the town of Jedburgh, and surrounded by what is 
here regarded as dense forests. This ancient Burgh, 
upon the " border" of Scotland, was the theatre of stir- 
ring and sanguinary events in the "troublesome times.' 



226 Thuklow Weed's 

It was frequently plundered, and has been the scene of 
much bloodshed. 

There is not much to interest travelers between Jed- 
burgh and Newcastle. The road crosses several hills 
and through extensive heaths, upon which it is said 
Cattle and Sheep graze to much advantage. 

Newcastle, though we were approaching it on a 
clear day, was enveloped in clouds of smoke, the dark- 
ness of which was visible several miles out. It is a 
place of about 50,000 inhabitants, who seem actively 
and prosperously employed. The Coal Mines are not 
only a great somxe of wealth to the Noblemen and 
Gentry to whom they belong, but of employment and 
support to the other classes. Newcastle enjoys some 
Commerce, and it has engaged to some extent in the 
manufacture of iron, steel, glass, and even woolens. 
It contains, too, the Hospitals, Churches, School Houses, 
Barracks, and other public buildings to be seen in all 
large English Towns or Cities. This was the birth- 
place of Admiral Collingwood, and of Akenside, the 
Poet. Several of the wealthiest Noblemen in England 
not only derive their income from then- Coal Mines, 
but have erected splendid Mansions near Newcastle, 
where they reside. Lumley Castle, the residence of 
the Earl of Scarborough, Lambton Hall, the seat of 
Lord Durham, and Howick, the seat of Earl Gray, are 
each within a short distance from this place. Although 
for several miles around Newcastle the Earth has been 
disemboweled, and you travel upon its rim, there are 
but few external indications of these subterranean exca- 
vations. It is difficult to realize or believe, while walk- 



Letters from Europe. 227 

ing or riding on the surface, that thousands, shut out 
from Heaven's light and air, are laboring below you. 

There are several entire Streets of large Stone Stores 
and Dwelling Houses in Newcastle, without occupants, 
and, of course, presenting a gloomy aspect. They are 
monuments at once of the enterprise and folly of a 
wealthy individual, whose hallucination led him to sup- 
pose Newcastle was to rival London. He died a beg- 
gar, and, I believe, in a Debtor's Prison. 

There was a Horse Fair here to-day, and one of the 
squares is yet filled with hundreds of the most inhu- 
manly used beasts I have ever seen. "All the ills" that 
horse-" flesh is heir to," stand revealed in these poor 
animals, whom the jockeys and grooms, with the aid of 
spurs and other stimulants, keep prancing and vaulting 
before the " Jimmy Greens" who are to become purchas- 
ers of an " 'orse." The bipeds, who seem equally divided 
between sharps and flats, are most vehement in voice 
and manner, but their conversation is, for the most part, 
in a language either too refined or too barbarous for 
our comprehension. 

In the evening we went to the Theatre. The price 
of Box Tickets was threepence. The Company, could 
it have rejoiced in an "Infant Phenomenon," might 
claim remote kindredship to that of the never to be 
forgotten " Crummells," who, you will remember, con- 
fessed that he " never knew the worth of that incompar- 
able woman (his wife) until he saw her balancing upon 
a fourteen-foot pole, with a brilliant display of fireworks 
at her heels !" One of the Stars in this tragic firma- 
ment, is a gentleman whom I well remembered to have 
seen playing in the Albany Theatre, from the circum- 



228 Thurlow Weed's 

stance that lie talks as if he had a mouthful of hot buns. 
We remained to see a robber shot, a bandit dirked, a 
heroine faint, and half a dozen outlaws arrested, when 
we left without taking " checks" for the Afterpiece. 

York, August 16. 

Leaving Newcastle at half-past 7 this morning, we 
proceeded by coach to Darlington, 36 miles. The first 
thirty miles is through a much worked coal region. 
Lands here are doubly valuable, yielding, as they do 
most abundantly, agricultural wealth from without and 
mineral treasures from within. We passed, with only 
a brief stop, the ancient and venerable looking town of 
Durham, which is 14 miles from Newcastle and 155 
from London. Its magnificent Cathedral, in the Nor- 
man style of architecture, founded in 1093, stands upon 
an eminence from which the town and surrounding 
country are seen to great advantage. The Bishop of 
Durham is a personage of vast wealth ; and there is an 
appearance of substantial and tolerably well diffused 
prosperity throughout the town. Durham is as much 
distinguished in England for its army of " Old Mails," as 
it is in America for its fine breed of Cattle. The streets 
and houses here, though very old and antiquated, are 
kept clean, and with their arbors and trellis work, abound- 
ing in roses and honeysuckles, present a cheerful aspect. 

York, at which place we arrived at 1 o'clock, ranks 
next to London in historical interest, and was at one 
time a place of even greater consideration than the now 
mighty Metropolis. The earliest history of York is 
obscm*e. As early as 124 it is known to have been 
occupied as a Garrison by the Romans. Adrian- estab- 



Letters from Eukope. 229 

lished his head-quarters here. Severus, by whom the 
wall around the city of York was erected, died in 212. 
Constantine Chlorus, another Roman Emperor, died 
here in 307, after which his son, Constantine the 
Great, who was born at York, was proclaimed Emperor 
by the Army. In the 9 th century York is said to have 
been the seat of England's Commerce and Literature. 
The first meeting of what became the Parliament was 
held here, in 1169. York was the theatre upon which 
William Rufus, King Stephen, King David of Scot- 
land, Henry II, Richard II, Henry VIII, and 
Charles I, enacted some of their sanguinary 
dramas. But York Minster is the object of abiding 
and absorbing interest. We have all heard and read 
much about this vast pile, of which, however, it may 
be said, as it was said of the magnificence of an Orien- 
tal Ruler, that "the half has not been told." St. Paul's 
# Church and Westminster Abbey, but for their sepul- 
chres and monuments, would be thrown into the shade 
by this mighty structure. In magnitude and splendor 
this Minster is said to be surpassed by the Church of 
St. Peter at Rome. Among its principal monuments 
are those of Archbishop Scrope and Sir George 
Saville. The nave and choir are adorned with carved 
heads of the Kings of England from William I to 
Henry VI. Its numerous and elaborate windows are 
of glass, filled with exquisitely painted scripture illus- 
trations. This noble Cathedral suffered severely by 
two greatly to be deplored conflagrations, but in 
repairing it, care was taken to restore, as faithfully as 
possible, its original features. 

Nor is York Minster the only object of historical 



230 Thurlow Weed's 

interest here. The place abounds in Antiquities. 
There are no less than sixteen Churches that look old 
enough to have been built before the deluge. Its 
Castle was erected by "William I. The Church of St. 
Mary, of All-Hallows, and St. Denis, were founded 
when York was the Eboracum of the Romans. The 
Romans also built Clifford Tower, of which the Ruin 
is preserved. York is pleasantly situated upon the 
River Ouse, which is navigable for vessels of about 150 
tons. Its ancient streets are remarkably clean, and its 
seeming antedeluvian tenements are so uniformly neat 
and cheerful as to impress a stranger with very favor- 
able opinions of the domestic taste and habits of its 
Wives and Daughters. 

Sheffield, August 17. 

This, you know, is one of the great manufacturing 
towns of England. Its celebrity for Cutlery and 
Plated ware is proverbial. Indeed the mouths of the 
whole civilized world have been fed with the Knives 
and Forks manufactured at Sheffield. It is a place of 
some 60,000 inhabitants, and, though with a smoky 
atmosphere and dingy appearance, furnishes abundant 
indications of industry, enterprise and opulence. The 
place is remarkable for little else than its manufactures, 
and for the excellence and fertility of the surrounding 
country. In inquiring for its antiquities I was told that 
it could boast of a Monument which was Chantry's 
first effort in sculpture, and of affording the rights of 
sepulchre to the executioner of Charles I. We 
visited the salesroom and manufacturing establish- 
ment of " J. Rogers & Son," whose names are familiar 



Letters from Europe. 231 

to all Americans, and whose knives, &c, are to be found 
in every house in onr country. From anything that 
has crossed the Atlantic, no adequate idea can be 
formed of the perfection and expense to which this 
description of manufactures is carried on here. We saw 
a Penknife, perfect in all respects, which has 70 blades, 
and weighs less than a half- penny. We saw, also, 
the duplicate of a knife presented to G-eorge IV, 
which contained 1,841 blades, and is valued at 200 
guineas. We also visited the extensive, reputable and 
well known House of Sanderson Brothers, where our 
letters of introduction from Mr. Benedict and Mr. 
Corning, procured us a cordial reception and kind offers 
of every attention; but having looked through their 
works, and witnessed the process of converting Iron 
into Steel, we hurried to the Bailway Station, not, how- 
ever, until the Messrs. Sanderson had confronted me 
with the New York Tribune, containing one of my 
letters in which a fellow-passenger was made a member 
of their House, instead of another extensive and respect- 
able concern — to which he had belonged. The error 
consisted, not in the peculiarities I had ascribed to that 
gentleman, but in making him a partner in the wrong 
firm. 

Hampton, 4 p. m. 

This is the termination of the Northern Midland 
Railway, and its intersection with the London and 
Birmingham Railway. We are waiting for a Train 
that will take us to London (112 miles) in four hours 
and a half. Yorkshire and Derbyshire, through which 
Counties we have passed to-day, are just presenting 
their bountiful harvests to the Sickle — literally to the 



232 Thurlow "Weed's 

Sickle, for there are neither Cradles nor other machines 
for harvesting here. The crop promises a rich yield. 
The scene, for an hundred and fifty miles, has been 
gorgeous to the eye and grateful to the heart. Here 
every nook and corner of soil is pressed into the hus- 
bandman's service. The whole country, in every 
direction, as far as we could see, rejoices in Wheat 
fields, apparently like some golden lake waving in gen- 
tleness and beauty. In the North of England the 
harvest is a week later, but if the weather should con- 
tinue favorable the People of England would not lack 
bread if they had wherewithal to purchase it. 

England, hereabouts, abounds in Railways. I saw, 
near Normanton to-day, seven several Trains upon 
three independent Railways, darting off like Meteors in 
different directions. 

We passed through Wakefield, a most romantic and 
beautiful town, which you readily enough imagine to 
have been the residence of Goldsmith's amiable Vicar. 
Chesterfield, through which we passed, is celebrated for 
its extensive manufacture of worsted Stockings, and 
for its tall, leaning spire to an ancient Chinch, resem- 
bling, it is said, the Leaning Tower of Pisa. 

The Train which takes us to London is coming. So 
adieu. 



Letters from Europe. 233 



XXVI. 

LONDON, August 24, 1843. 

London is now in the country, but unless you have 
occasion to visit the West End, this circumstance would 
escape your notice. There, indeed, the change is 
apparent, in the absence of equipages and the compara- 
tive solitude that pervades the Palaces and Mansions of 
the Nobility and Aristocracy. Everybody who have 
Places in the Country are off to them, as are every- 
body who have invitations to Places. And those who 
have neither Places nor invitations, but do not lack the 
" needful," go to Cheltenham, or Brighton, or Margate, 
or the Lakes, or to Scotland, or to the Continent. And 
though London has thus emptied itself of its tens of 
thousands, yet Cheapside and Ludgate-hill, and Fleet 
street, and High-Holborn, and Oxford street, and the 
Strand, and the Charing Cross, and an hundred other 
thoroughfares, are no more affected by the absentees 
than the Hudson river is by a bucket of its water. 

Parliament is drawing one of its longest sessions to a 
close. If the " Times," " Standard," and half a dozen 
other leading London Journals are to be taken as 
authority, there has never been a Parliament so barren 
of all useful action and results. Nor has any former 
Ministry promised so much and accomplished so little. 
And yet the Ministry commenced and closed the session 
with a strong majority in both Houses. This seems to 

30 



234 Thuklow Weed's 

show that the Patient is either in a state for which there 
is no remedy, or that he is in the hands of Doctors who 
do not know what medicine to administer. 

Sir Eobeet Peel's " sliding scale," as is agreed on 
all sides, works badly. But nothing has been done to 
adjust or perfect its machinery. The Agricultural inter- 
ests are willing to pay their Income Tax as long as the 
English markets are virtually closed against those grain- 
growing Nations that have then manufacturing done 
here. But the Manufacturing and Commercial interests 
of England begin to discover that their business and 
profits would be greatly enhanced by an exchange of 
products. It is, I say, beginning to be understood that 
it is as true with nations as with individuals, that when 
each party wants, what the other wants to part with, 
both can be benefited by the exchange. England has 
a redundant population, for which she wants employ- 
ment. America has surplus products for which she 
wants a market. The true interests of the English peo- 
ple, in this state of things, would be promoted by an 
exchange of their manufactures for our produce. This 
change of policy, however, will not occur under Eng- 
land's present form of government. Nor is it desirable, 
so far as the true interests, prosperity and independence 
of our Country is concerned, that there shoixld be any 
such change of policy on the part of Great Britain. 
By the encouragement and protection of Home Indus- 
try, we can create a Home Market for the products of 
our soil, upon which the Farmer may rely with far 
greater safety and confidence, to reward his care and 
toil. Our course, however, be it what it may, will not 
alter things here. England will not change her policy 



Letters from Europe. 235 

in this respect, without a Kevolution. The restrictive 
policy is indispensable to the Nobility of England, 
whose enormous revenues, with here and there an 
exception, are derived from their vast and fertile 
Domains. The "Corn Laws" are a contrivance by 
means of which the hundreds are made voluptuously 
rich, while the millions are kept wretchedly poor. The 
owners of the soil are the Peers of the Eealm, and con- 
stituting, as they do, one of the Legislative branches of 
the Government, there will be no change in the Corn 
Laws, " and least of all such change " as would seri- 
ously diminish the income of their noble selves. 

This Government is a problem. Its very weakness 
seems to constitute its strength. With a National Debt, 
the annual interest on which amounts to £29,000,000 
or nearly one hundred and fifty millions of dollars, 
capitalists continue to take its loans, and Merchants, 
Traders and Mechanics still invest their surplus earnings 
in the Funds ! And yet none of these People believe 
that this debt will ever be paid, and they all apprehend 
a convulsion which must result in its repudiation. 

"When in London, a month ago, I omitted to deliver 
my letters to several distinguished gentlemen. Since 
our return from Scotland, having a week on my hands, 
I ventured to the West End with the hope of seeing 
two of the Literary Lions (Mr. Lockhart and Sir E. L. 
Bulwer), but they were off with the other Fashionables 
to their lairs in the Forest. 

I spoke, in a former Letter, of the excellence of the 
London Police, and have seen much since to confirm 
my high sense of its efficacy in the prevention of crime 
and the preservation of the order and tranquility which 



236 Thuelow Weed's 

reigns throughout this vast metropolis. Oliver Mi 
Lowjids, Esq., who, as a magistrate, has been long and 
usefully connected with the New York Police, and who 
is now here, participates fully in my admiration of this 
most efficient system of Police. He agrees with me in 
the opinion, that with a similar organization, New York 
would derive advantages, the value of which it will be 
difficult to calculate. I had, a few evenings since, 
renewed experience of the attention and civilities of 
these Policemen. All other efforts to ascertain where 
Father Mathew lodged having failed, I determined to 
try the Policemen. Meeting one in Farrington street, 
I asked if he could inform me what Inn Father Mathew 
lodged at ! He said that he did not know, though he 
believed it was in the neighborhood of Cheapside, and 
advised me to inquire at some of the stations around 
St. Paul's Church. And proceeding as he advised, I 
was informed by another Policeman that it was in 
Aldergate street, but he did not know the number. He 
remarked, however, that if I would stop till he went to 
the end of his beat, he would take me near the place I 
was in search of. Arriving at the end of his beat this 
way, he transferred me over to a third Policeman, who 
conducted me to the door of a Private Boarding House, 
where the great and good Temperance Reformer is 
staying. Without the aid of Policemen I might have 
devoted a week to unavailing inquiries. 

Father Mathew has worked like a slave since he 
came to England, throughout whose Towns and Cities 
he is diffusing happiness and multiplying blessings. In 
Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester, York and Sheffield, 
his benign mission was triumphantly successful. But 



Letters from Europe. 237 

in London, I am sorry to see, lie encounters embarrass- 
ment, opposition, hostility and even opprobrium. The 
indolent, voluptuous, well-fed and well-paid Clergy of 
London, have become suddeuly aroused to the dangers 
of Romanism. They have discovered that by making 
men sober and temperate, the supremacy of the Church 
of England is endangered! They believe, or would 
have others believe, that there is another " Popish plot" 
concealed in Father Mathew's Temperance Pledge ! 
Nor is religious fanaticism alone at work against the 
Reformer. The Clergy have Political auxiliaries. 
The Ministry conjure up a Repeal phantom out of this 
Temperance movement. They think they see Mr. 
O'Connell's finger pointing at them ! Nothing, how- 
ever, can be more unjust and unfounded than these sus- 
picions. Father Mathew's purposes are as single as his 
heart is pure. He aims to avoid all " entangling alli- 
ances" with either Church or State, Religion or Politics, 
and those who impugn his motives do him cruel injustice. 
Nor is there anything in his manner or conversation to 
offend. He neither assails nor denounces any, but is 
kind and tolerant to all. And he goes patiently and 
diligently forward, regardless of the obstacles thrown 
in his way, and of the sinister designs most unjustly 
imputed to him. 

In walking up Regent street yesterday I witnessed a 
scene of anguish, new to me, but not so to those better 
acquainted with the abodes of destitution. Observing 
a crowd gathering upon the opposite side of the street, 
I crossed over and saw an infant that had just breathed 
its last in the arms of its mother, who had been sitting 
or standing all day in that street, endeavoring to sell 



238 Thurlow Weed's 

matches. The child died for the want of food and 
nourishment, and the mother, who was still pressing her 
dead infant to her bosom, was a picture of destitution 
and despair. There was scarcely strength enough in 
her trembling limbs to bear her into an Apothecary's 
shop, where the restoratives tried in vain upon the child, 
were needed by the fainting mother. This poor woman, 
by her language and deportment, excited much sym- 
pathy. She was evidently in a greatly debilitated state 
from the want of food. She had only received two 
halfpence for matches in two days, and had no other 
means of support. Regent street, where this Mother 
and Child sat starving, dazzles the eye and bewilders 
the imagination with its wealth and magnificence. The 
mines of Potosi and the treasures of Golconda seem to 
have been poured into the luxurious lap of Regent 
street. But amid all this wealth and luxury, a Mother 
toiled in vain for the coarse food that would enable her 
to give nourishment to a dying infant ! And thus is 
human life in this great city painfully diversified. 

I passed from this heart-sickening scene over to the 
Brunswick Hotel, in Hanover street Square, to pay my 
respects to Abbot Lawrence, of Boston, whose health, 
I am happy to say, has improved and is improving. 
This enterprising and enlightened American Merchant is 
enjoying the best society of England. His company 
is sought, not only by the noble in rank, but by those 
who are ennobled by talent and genius. It is gratify- 
ing to see Americans of Mr. Lawrence's intelligence 
and worth abroad. Their presence, here, furnish the 
best answers to the malignant and miserable calumnies 
and caricatures which Mrs. Trollope, Basil Hall and 



Lettees FEOM EUROPE. 239 

Chaeles Dickens, have perpetrated upon " society 
and manners" in America. 

The Queen came in state to-day, from Buckingham 
Palace (having arrived there, from Windsor, yesterday) 
to prorogue Parliament. This is one of the great Page- 
ants of Monarchy. Having witnessed it once, in all its 
magnificent emptiness, I am content to let that curtain 
fall. Having " no friend at Court " by whose favor I 
could get into the gallery of the House of Lords, I hired 
a chair (for seven shilling sterling, byway of vindicating 
the proverb " that a fool and his money is soon parted ") 
in a balcony midway between the Horse Guards and 
Westminster Hall, where I sat patiently for three mortal 
hours, viewing the reality of one of the Eoyal Proces- 
sions which we have so often seen mimicked in Theatres 
and personified on canvas and paper. 

The multitude, ever anxious to see these Royal shows, 
began to assemble in the avenues leading to West- 
minster Hall, at 11 o'clock. Every description of 
vehicles, from the Coaches with emblazoned Arms and 
liveried Servants, to the plebeian Cab, filled with fash- 
ionables, were stationed in lines extending more than a 
mile along the Streets, through which Her Majesty 
would pass. Windows and Balconies were hired by 
those who either preferred them, or could not obtain 
Carriages. Strong detachments of Horse Guards and 
Policemen were stationed between Westminster and 
Buckingham Palace. By one o'clock everybody seemed 
to have got their seats or their stands, and from that 
time until two, when the Royal cortege came in sight, 
there was profound silence. The Queen's Trumpeters, 
with a troop of Horse, came first. Then followed a 



240 Thurlow Weed's 

massive State Coach, with a Guard, containing the 
Crown. Then came three magnificent State Coaches, 
drawn by sis superb bay Horses, led by grooms, in 
which Members of the Queen's Household were seated. 
Then came another State Coach, still more magnificent, 
drawn by six beautifully jet black Horses, in which the 
Countess of Dunmoee, the Earls of Exetek and Liver- 
pool, and the Marquis of Londonderry were seated ; 
and finally, preceded by twelve tenderly dressed and 
solemn visaged Pages, or Ushers, on foot, with long 
staves, came the gorgeous Royal Coach, drawn by eight 
cream colored Horses, in harness richly embossed with 
gold, and flanked by Horse Guards, in which the Queen, 
Prince Albert, the Duchess of Buccleugii, and Earl 
Jersey, were seated. The Queen was dressed in white 
satin, with Jewels sparkling in a cluster at her forehead. 
Prince Albert wore a Field Marshal's Uniform. 

The English are rather phlegmatic on such occasions, 
or the Queen was coldly received. There was no 
enthusiasm — no acclamation. The few attempts to 
get up a cheer, as her Majesty was passing, were utterly 
abortive. There were but few persons of distinction, 
other than such as is derived from position in the Queen's 
Household, in the Procession; and among the few I 
observed our Minister, Hon. Mr. Everett, with his 
Daughter, in a bright yellow Coach, with Coachman 
and outriders, in rich Livery, and Mr. E. himself 
(instead of the plain Republican garb with which 
Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and John Jay used 
to appear on such occasions), in full Court Dress, with 
gold and embroidery. I don't half like this departure 
from the simplicity which distinguishes our form of Gov- 



Letters from Europe. 241 

eminent, though it is certain that the American Minister 
has acquired great popularity here, and perhaps aug- 
ments his influence, by his conformity in matters of dis- 
play and etiquette. 

You will see the Queen's Speech in the newspaper 
account of the Pageant. As a Show, it was all it is 
represented, in gorgeousness and magnificence. But 
for every useful or practical purpose and end, it was 
the vainest and the idlest thing imaginable. The 
Parliament had virtually prorogued itself. There were 
not thirty, if even twenty, Members of either House 
present. The Speech is an unmeaning form of words, 
done into sentences by Sir Robert Peel, and read by 
the Queen, as Hamlet's Players read what was "set 
down" for them, not as "trippingly" perhaps, and cer- 
tainly with less effect upon the auditors. 

This Royal demonstration exhibited in bold and strik- 
ing relief, the contrast that exists between the Rich and 
the Poor of England. The trappings upon the Horses 
that drew the Queen's Coach, would have furnished the 
whole Poor of London with a sumptuous repast. 
The livery of the fat Coachman who held their reins, 
would have made the infant I yesterday saw die in its 
starving Mother's arms, comfortable for the ordinary 
term of human existence. The solid gold with which 
that Coach is so expensively and ostentatiously adorned, 
would raise a thousand families from indigence and suf- 
fering to a competency and to happiness. I wished, 
most devoutly, that the whole American People could 
have seen this vainglorious display of the expense of 
sustaining a Monarchy. Nothing could have been bet- 

31 



242 Thuelow Weed's 

ter calculated to make us love and cherish our own 
Government and Institutions. 

The Old Bailey Assizes are now sitting at Newgate, 
whither I went to have a peep at their Worships in Wigs 
and Growns. The absence of Lawyers in a Court of 
Justice, struck me with surprise, until I reflected that 
very few of the involuntary suitors in these Assizes 
have either money or friends, and are unable, therefore, 
to pay Counsel. It is due, however, to the Bar of our 
own State, to say that accused persons there never go 
to trial without Counsel, however destitute or friendless. 
The law is administered here most rigorously in all cases 
of larceny and forgery. They gave a girl yesterday a 
year's imprisonment for stealing a handkerchief; and 
to another, for a petit larceny, it being the second offense, 
twelve years transportation, while a man convicted of 
bigamy, got off with two months in the Penitentiary ! 

Having heard and read much of the extent and mag- 
nitude of the "London Times" Printing Office, I asked 
and obtained permission (by informing a Proprietor that 
I belonged to the " Craft") to look through the Estab- 
lishment. Over one hundred persons are employed in 
the Composition and Press Rooms. The Paper is 
Avorked upon two Machines that throw off 5,000 sheets 
an hour. Thirty Compositors are employed during the 
day, and twenty during the night, on Advertisements. 
The news and original matter begins to be put in hand 
at 6 o'clock p. m., and the Paper gets to Press at 4 A. m. 
They pay Journeymen but ninepence (eighteen cents) 
a thousand for bourgeois and minion composition, and 
tenpence for nonpariel. The Salaries paid to Editors, 
Reporters and Foreign Correspondents, are enormous, 



Letters from Europe. 243 

though not half so enormous as the profits of the Estab- 
lishment. Upon learning that I was acquainted with 
the " Genoese Traveler," their American Correspond- 
ent, the gentleman who accompanied me through the 
office remarked that his Letters were highly appreciated 
by Statesmen, Capitalists and Merchants on this side of 
the Atlantic. 

There are no Subscribers here, as with us, to News- 
paper Offices. The papers are bought and distributed 
by Agents and Newsmen, who have their Rooms and 
Depots in various parts of the city. Each Advertise- 
ment pays a duty of eighteen pence to the Government ! 

We are packing up for a contemplated departure to 
France by to morrow's Steamer, so London, 

" Fare thee well, and if for ever, 
Still forever, fare thee well." 



244 Thtjrlow "Weed's 



XXVII. 

PARIS, September 16, 1843. 

The United States Steamer Missouri, on her way to 
China with the American Commissioner to that Gov- 
ernment, was totally destroyed by Fire, twenty-four 
hours after her arrival at Gibraltar. The account in 
the London papers, stating that the fire was occasioned 
by the spontaneous combustion of her coal, is erron- 
eous. It originated from Turpentine, a case of which 
was broken and spilled by one of the crew. The Tur- 
pentine was observed leaking through some part of the 
ship in season to have saved her if it had been known 
that the vessel was thus endangered. The sailor who 
broke the case, accidentally, did not make the fact 
known, supposing that he could take care of it himself, 
and wholly unconscious of the disastrous consequences. 
These facts, elicited by a Court of Inquiry, were com- 
municated to Mr. Ledyard, our Charge d' Affaires, by 
Lt. Winslow, who goes home in the Boston Steamer 
with the official account of this very serious and morti- 
fying calamity. 

Lt. Winslow says that the Missouri proved an excel- 
lent sea boat. Her machinery worked well, and she 
was in every respect fulfilling the expectations of the 
Government. 

Louis Phillipe has returned from his Chateau at Eu 
to St. Cloud. The pride of France is much flattered 



Letters from Europe. 

by the visit of Queen Victoria. The King is strong, a. 
in the main popular. France is prosperous and tranquil 

There are many Americans in Paris, some of whom 
are living fashionably and expensively. Mr. E. Brooks, 
of the Express, a most intelligent and enterprising 
Traveler, has just reached this place, after a Tour 
through Germany, Sweden, Russia, Italy, Switzer- 
land, &c. He goes to Scotland before his return home, 
preparatory to resuming his post at Washington, as a 
Reporter, in December. 

I met Gov. Throop at Mr. Ledyard's a few days ago, 
and he has since passed an evening at our Room. He 
has acquired a good knowledge of French and is devot- 
ing his time to Literature. He seems to have lost all 
interest in and familiarity with American politics. 

Dr. Armsby returns in the Great Western, with 
Mr. Hawley, whose health has been greatly benefited 
by his voyage and tour. 

Paris is rendered exceedingly pleasant to strangers 
by the attentions they receive from our Charge d' Affaires, 
Mr. Ledyard, and our Consul, Mr. Draper, whose 
uniform kindness, not less than half hospitalities, serve 
to divest a strange land of that sense of loneliness that 
arises from a formal, cold, or repulsive reception by a 
Foreign Minister. 

I have just received my Letters by the Hibernia, 
with a note from my London Banker informing me 
that the Post-Office regulations will not permit them to 
forward my packages of Newspapers. 

I am deeply afflicted with the intelligence of our 
friend Willis Hall's severe illness. May the blow 
prove less disastrous than is apprehended. 



Thurlow "Weed's 

vVe have delightful weather here. I have not, how- 
ever, been much about Paris yet. A Compress Stocking 
which has been made here for my infirm Leg, promises 
to enable me to resume locomotion. 

September 20, 1843. 

Washington Irving, our distinguished Minister to 
Spain, who had been seriously ill at Madrid, has suffi- 
ciently recovered to make a visit to France for the 
benefit of his health. He arrived at Versailles on the 
16th of September inst., where, and in Paris, he will 
pass several weeks. 

The King goes from St. Cloud to Versailles in a few 
days. 

The warm pleasant weather continues. This is 
helping the Vintage, which, in consequence of the cold 
and wet spring, will produce less than one-third of last 
year's gathering. 

Gov. Throop received Letters by the Great West- 
ern which induce his return to America this fall. He 
had not intended to leave Paris until next summer. 

I met many Americans at Mr. Ledyard's at Tea last 
evening. The Minister brings his countrymen thus 
together very often. Among those last evening, were 
the widow and daughter of the late Theodore Sedg- 
wick, Esq. These Ladies have been some time in 
Paris. But the Miss Sedgwick is not in Europe. 



Letters from Europe. 247 



XXVIII. 

ON BOARD STEAMER LONDON MERCHANT, 

August 27, 1843. 

Desirous of seeing more of the Thames, we left Lon- 
don this morning, direct for Havre, instead of taking 
the more frequented routes by Brighton or Southampton, 
and esteem ourselves fortunate in having done so, for 
we have been gliding all day through still waters in 
view of a delightfully cultivated country. The Thames, 
for the first thirty miles, is narrow and serpentine. At 
Woolwich, where the Government cast Cannon and 
manufacture Engines, &c, the Boilers in view covered 
several acres, and looked like clusters of Irish cabins. 
At a place in the river called the Long Reach, I 
counted over two hundred sail of Merchantmen at 
anchor waiting for wind or tides. Farther down I saw 
the glorious stripes and stars displayed by a noble 
ship, but we were not near enough to make out who 
she was. In the afternoon we passed close to Margate 
and Rainsgate, two rival watering places, much fre- 
quented in the summer months, by wealthy commoners 
and tradespeople. The shore, in front of each of 
these ambitious towns, is lined with small dormitories 
on wheels that are trundled out into the surf, and from 
which the visitors enjoy a sea bath. Near Ramsgate, 
half a mile from shore, lay her Majesty's Ship-of-War 
the Lord Howe, of 120 guns, riding peacefully and 



248 Tiiurlow Weed's 

quietly at anchor. This floating- Palace made a truly 
magnificent appearance. There was not a breath of 
air, and everything on board the ship seemed as tran- 
quil as the sea. Unpoetical as I am, while looking at 
this majestic ship, " moored " in the Downs, I found 
myself humming the popular song of 

" AH in the Downs the Fleet was moored, 
When black-eyed Susan came on board." 

In their models the British Ships of the Line are less 
beautiful than ours. They are "pot-bellied" in their 
construction. This is deemed necessary on account of 
the immense weight of armament ; while in our Ships 
the " line of beauty " is preserved, and though our guns 
are farther from the water, I do not understand that 
the evils apprehended by the English have been 
experienced. 

Our superiority in ship building is as apparent in 
Foreign as in American ports. You see vessels from all 
the commercial nations of the Earth, and of every form 
of construction, in the Liverpool and London docks. 
But you look in vain for those that compare, in grace 
and beauty, with our own. The English and European 
ships, though admirable in many respects, have pal- 
pable defects. There are many with beautiful sterns, 
whose ugly bows amount to deformity. Others present 
tolerable bows with high, awkward, toppling sterns. 
Again you see a good hull, the effect of which is 
spoiled by disproportioned masts. And in their more 
ambitious and successful efforts, there is a want of that 
perfection in symmetry, that elegance of model, 
that exquisite taste in rigging, spars, &c, which present 



Letters from Europe. 249 

an American ship to the eye and imagination as a 
" thing of life." 

Soon after passing the Lord Howe, we came in sight 
of Dover, and as the atmosphere was remarkably clear, 
we had a good- view of Calais, its French neighbor. 
The channel between these two places, as you know, is 
only about 18 miles wide. During the wars between 
England and France, these towns, frowning and growl- 
ing like caged Lions at each other, must have been 
points of exceeding interest. The shore, upon the 
French, as upon the English side of the channel, pre- 
sents high and bold chalk cliffs, the character and 
conformation of which create an impression that in 
some remote time, back to which the memory nor the 
annals of " man runneth not," there was at this point no 
water line of demarkation between what are now the 
boundaries of England and France. The day was so 
clear that by the aid of a spy-glass not only the houses 
but even the people at Calais were seen. 

Dover makes but a sorry appearance, squatted down, 
as it is, in a gulf, and looking dull and dingy. The 
high hill on its left, has an old and strongly fortified 
Castle. On its right, too, there are remains of formi- 
dable fortifications. The Cliffs of Dover are high, bold 
and perpendicular ; and, as viewed from the Steamer, 
realize the description of them which Shakspeare puts 
into the mouth of Edgar in King Lear : 

" Come on, sir ; here's the place : Stand still. 

How fearful 

And dizzy 'tis, to cast one's eyes so low ! 
The crows, and choughs, that wing the midway air, 
Scarce show so gross as beetles : Half way down 
Hangs one that gathers samphire ; dreadful trade ! 
Methinks he seems no bigger than his head : 
32 



250 Thurlow "Weed's 

The fishermen, that walk upon the beach, 
Appear like mice ; and yon tall anchoring bark, 
Diminished to her boat, her boat, a buoy 
Almost too small for sight : The murmuring surge, 
That on the unnumbered idle pebbles chafes, 
Cannot be heard so high : — I'll look no more; 
Lest my brain turn, and the deficient sight 
Topple down headlong." 

Soon after leaving Dover the channel ■widens, and 
before dark we lost sight of either Coast. At 5 o'clock 
this morning, when I came on deck, we were running 
along the French coast, a quarter of a mile from shore, 
and fourteen miles from Havre. The French Pilot, who 
came on board at 4 o'clock, informed our Captain that 
Havre was filled with People yesterday, drawn together 
by Boat Paces, which the Duke de Nemours, the 
King's eldest son, attended. We reached Havre at 
half-past six, but not until the tide had fallen so much 
that we were compelled to drop anchor in the outer 
harbor, where we remain until 11 o'clock, when the 
return tide will enable us to get into the docks. 



Letters from Europe. 251 



XXIX. 

LONDON, August 25, 1843. 

I stated in a former Letter that I should have occasion to 
speak of Bishop Hughes again, and if I now say less of 
him than I then intended, it is because a longer and more 
intimate acquaintance with him, has imposed restraints 
that may not be disregarded. Nor will I, with the 
Atlantic between me and the country, the friends, and 
the home of my affections, willingly say aught to 
w ound those who hold my views upon the Public 
School Question to be erroneous. Waiving these top- 
ics, therefore, I shall now content myself with saying 
that Bishop Hughes is destined to exert a powerful in- 
fluence over the minds of men. He is in the prime of 
life, with tastes and habits and aspirations which will not 
rest while there are treasures of knowledge unexplored. 
And next to the sacred office to which he has been con- 
secrated, he is desirous of promoting the general wel- 
fare of his fellow citizens. He believes it to be not 
less the privilege than the duty, of classes of men, to 
dedicate then* whole time and talents to the enlightenment 
of the mind, and the alleviation of the sufferings and the 
elevation of the pursuits of then countrymen. He believes 
that the spirit of the age, scarcely less than the genius 
of our institutions, eminently demands this service from 
the gifted men of a Republic which is becoming the " seat 
of Empire." That he is a Catholic who will exert his 



252 Thuklow Weed's 

utmost efforts to "vindicate and extend his religions 
principles, is most true ; but that he is also a Patriot and 
Philanthropist in the broadest and most enlightened 
sense of the terms, and that he will devote a clear head 
and a warm heart to the advocacy of rational Freedom, 
of universal Education, of pure Morals, and those true 
Christian virtues, Charity and Peace, is equally true. 

Four years ago, in crossing ihe Atlantic, Bishop 
Hughes encountered a heavy Gale, an account of 
which he then committed to a Journal kept for the 
eye only of his sister. On our passage, while I was 
conversing with him in relation to a Sermon he had 
that day Preached on board, in which he had dwelt 
very eloquently upon the power and wisdom of God as 
displayed in the "mighty deep," the Bishop referred to 
the Storm he had once witnessed, and on a subsequent 
day read to me the account he then wrote of it. This 
struck me as one of the most graphic and beautiful 
descriptions of a Gale that I ever met with. Believing 
that tins extract from the Bishop's Journal will interest 
others as it did me, I obtained his reluctant consent for 
its publication, promising to state the fact that it was 
hastily written on board ship, in obedience to a request 
of a Sister that he should keep a Journal of his tour 
for her, and without the slightest expectation that it 
would ever come in contact with types or printing 
press : 

EXTRACTS FROM BISHOP HUGHES' JOURNAL OP A VOYAGE 
ACROSS THE ATLANTIC. 
* # * * q ct _ 20. — Oh what is there in Nature so grand 
as the mighty Ocean ? The Earthquake and Volcano are ever 
sublime in their display of destructive power. But their sub- 
limity is terrible from the consciousness of danger with which then 



Letters from Europe. 253 

exhibitions are witnessed — and besides, their violent agency is 
impulsive, sudden and transient. Not so the glorious Ocean. 
In its very playfulness you discover that it can be terrible as 
the Earthquake ; but the spirit of benevolence seems to dwell 
in its bright and open countenance, to inspire your confidence. 
The mountains and Valleys, with their bold lineaments and 
luxuriant verdure, are beautiful ; but theirs is not like the beauty 
of the Ocean ; for here all is life and movement. This is not 
that stationary beauty of rural scenery, in which objects retain 
their fixed and relative position, and wait to be examined and 
admired in detail. No, the Ocean presents a moving scenery, 
which passes in view before and around you, challenging admi- 
ration. These gentle heavings of the great deep, with its 
unruffled surface — these breakings up of its waters into fantas- 
tic and varied forms; these baitings of the waves to be thrown 
forward presently into new formations ; these giant billows, the 
sentinels of the watery wilderness — all, all, are beautiful — 
and though, in their approach, they may seem furious and preg- 
nant with destruction, yet there is no danger, for they come 
only with salutations for the Pilgrim of the deep, and as they 
pass her bows or stern retiring backwards, seem, as from obeis- 
ance, to kiss their hands to her in token of adieu. * * * * 
Oct. 31. — This day I was gratified with what I had often 
desired to witness — the condition of the sea in a Tempest. 
Not that I would allege curiosity as a sufficient plea, for desir- 
ing that which can never be witnessed without more or less 
of danger to the spectator ; and still less, when the gratification 
exposes others to anxiety and alarm. Let me be understood, 
then, as meaning to say that my desire to witness a Storm was not 
of such a kind as to make me indifferent to the apprehension 
which it is calculated to awaken. But aside from this, there 
was nothing I could have desired more. I had contemplated 
the Ocean in all its other phases — and they are almost innumera- 
ble. At one time it is seen reposing in perfect stillness under 
the blue sky and bright sun. At another, slightly ruffled, and 
then its motion causes his rays to tremble and dance in broken 
fragments of silvery or golden light — and the sight is dazzled 
by following the track from whence his beams are reflected — 
whilst all beside seems to frown in the darkness of its ripple. 
Again it may be seen somewhat more agitated and of a darker 
hue, under a clouded sky and a stronger and increasing wind. 



254 Thuklow Weed's 

Then, yon sec an occasional wave, rising a little above the rest, 
and crowning its summit with that crest of white breaking 
from its top and tumbling over like liquid alabaster. Now as 
far as the eye can reach, you see the dark ground of Ocean 
enlivened and diversified by these panoramic snow-hills. As 
they approach near, and especially if the sun be unclouded, 
you see the light refracted through the summit of the wave, 
in the most pure, pale green, that it is possible either to 
behold or imagine. I had seen the Ocean, too, by moonlight, 
and as nmch of it as maybe seen in the darkness, when the 
moon and stars are veiled. But until to-day I had never seen it 
in correspondence with the Tempest. 

After a breeze of some sixty hours from the north and north- 
west, the wind died away about four o'clock yesterday after- 
noon. The calm continued till about nine in the evening. 
The mercuiy in the Barometer fell, in the meantime, at an 
extraordinary rate ; and the captain predicted that we sho\ild 
encounter a " gale " from the southeast. I did not hear the 
prediction or I should not have gone to bed. The " gale " came 
on, however, at about 11 o'clock; not violent at first, but 
increasing every moment. I slept soundly until after five in 
the morning, and then awoke with a confused recollection of a 
good deal of rolling and thumping through the night, which 
was occasioned by the dashing of the waves against the ship. 
There was an unusual trampling and shouting — or rather 
screaming — on deck; and soon after, a crash upon the cabin 
floor, followed by one of the most unearthly screams I ever 
heard. The Passengers, taking the alarm, sprang from their 
berths, and without waiting to dress, ran about asking questions 
without waiting for or receiving any answers. Hurrying on 
my clothes, I found that the shriek proceeded from the 2d 
Steward, who had, by a lurch of the ship, been thrown, in. his 
sleep, from his sofa, some six feet to the cabin floor. By this 
time I found such of the Passengers as could stand at the door 
of the hurricane-house, "holding on," and looking out in the 
utmost consternation. This, I exclaimed mentally, is what I 
wanted, but did not expect it so soon. It was still quite dark. 
Pour of the sails were already in ribbons. The winds whist- 
ling through the cordage; the rain dashing furiously and in 
torrents ; the noise and spray scarcely less than I found them 
under the great sheet at Niagara. And in the midst of all 



Letters from Europe. 255 

this, the Captain -with his speaking trumpet, the officers, and 
the sailors, screaming to each other in efforts to be heard, and 
mingling their oaths and curses with the angry voice of the 
Tempest — this, all this, in the darkness which precedes the 
dawning of day, and with the fury of the hurricane, combined 
to form as much of the terribly sublime as I ever wish to wit- 
ness concentrated in one scene. 

The Passengers, though silent, were filled with apprehension. 
What the extent of danger, and how all this would, terminate, 
were questions which arose in my mind, although unconscious 
of fear or trepidation. But to such questions there was no 
answers, for this knowledge resides only with Him who " guides 
the storm and directs the whirlwind." We had encountered, 
however, as yet, only the commencement of a Gale, whose 
terrors had been heightened by its suddenness, by the darkness, 
and by the confusion. It continued to blow furiously for 
twenty-four hours; so that during the whole day I enjoyed a 
view which, apart from its dangers, would be worth a voyage 
across the Atlantic. The ship was driven madly through the 
raging waters, and even when it was impossible to walk the decks 
without imminent risk of being lifted up and carried away by 
the winds, the poor sailors were kept aloft, tossing and swing- 
ing about the yards and in the tops, clinging by their bodies, 
feet and arms, with mysterious tenacity, to the spars, while 
their hands were employed in taking in and securing sail. On 
deck the officers and men made themselves safe by ropes ; but 
how the gallant fellows aloft kept from being blown out of the 
rigging was equally a matter of wonder and admiration. How- 
ever, at about seven o'clock they had taken in what canvass 
had not blown away, except the sails by means of which the 
vessel is kept steady. At 9 o'clock the hurricane had acquir- 
ed its full force. There was now no more work to be done. 
The ship lay to — and those who had her in charge only 
remained on deck to be prepared for whatever of disaster might 
occur. The breakfast hour came, and passed, imheeded by 
most of the Passengers ; though I found my own appetite quite 
equal to the spare allowance of a fast-day. 

By this time the sea was rolling up its hurricane waves; and 
that I might not lose the grandeur of such a view, I fortified 
myself against the rain and spray, in winter overcoat and 
cork-soled boots, and in spite of the fierceness of the gale, 



256 Thuelow "Weed's 

planted myself in a position favorable for a survey of all 
around rne, and in safety, so long as the ship's strong works 
might hold together. I had often seen Paintings of a Storm 
at Sea — but here was the original. These imitations are often- 
times graphic and faithful, as far as they go, but they are 
necessarily deficient in accompaniments which painting cannot 
supply, and are therefore feeble and ineffective. You have, 
upon canvas, the Ship and the Se'a, but as they come from the 
hands of the Artist, so they remain. The universal Motion of 
both are thus arrested and made stationary. There is no sub- 
ject in which the pencil of the Painter acknowledges more its 
indebtedness to the imagination than in its attempts to deline- 
ate the Sea Storm. But even could the attempt be successful, 
so far as the eye is concerned, there would still be wanting the 
rushing of the hurricane, the groaning of the masts and yards, 
the quick shrill rattling of the cordage, and the ponderous dash- 
ing of the uplifted deep. All these were numbered among the 
advantages of my position, as, firmly planted, I opened eyes 
and ears, heart and sold, to the beautiful ^rightfulness of the 
Tempest around and the Ocean beneath me. 

At this time the hurricane was supposed to be at the top of 
its fury, and it seemed to me quite impossible for winds to blow 
more violently. Our noble ship had been reduced in the scale 
of proportion by this sudden transformation of the elements, 
into dimensions apparently insignificant. She had become a 
mere boat to be lifted up and dashed down by the caprice of 
wave after wave. 

The weather, especially along the surface of the sea, was 
thick and hazy, so much so, that you could not see more than a 
mile in any direction. But within that horizon, the spectacle 
was one of majesty and power. "Within that circumference, 
there were mountains and plains, the alternate rising and sink- 
ing of which seemed like the action of some volcanic power 
beneath. You saw immense masses of uplifted waters, emerg- 
ing out of the darkness on one side, and rushing and tumbling 
across the valleys that remained after the passage of their pre- 
decessors, until, like them, they roll away into similar darkness 
upon the other. These waves were not numerous, nor rapid in 
their movements ; but in massiveness and elevation they were 
the legitimate offspring of a true Tempest. It was this eleva- 
tion that imparted the beautiful pale and transparent green to 



Letters from Europe. 257 

tne billow from the summit of which the toppling white foam 
spilled itself over and came falling down towards you with the 
dash of a Cataract. Not less magnificent than the waves them- 
selves, were the varying dimensions of the valleys that remained 
between them. You would expect to see these ocean plains 
enjoying as it were a moment of repose, but during the hurri- 
cane's frenzy this was not the case. Their waters had lost 
for a moment the onward motion of the billows, but they 
were far from being at rest. They preserved the green hues and 
foamy scarfs of the mighty insurgents that had passed over 
them. The angry aspect they presented to the eye that gazed, 
almost vertically, upon their boiling eddies, wheeling about 
in swift currents, with surface glowing and hissing as if 
in contact with heated iron ; all this showed that their depths 
were not unvisited by the Tempest, but that its spirit had de- 
scended beneath the billows to heave them up presently into all 
the rushing convulsive violence of the general commotion. 
But mountain and plain, of these infuriated waters, were cover- 
ed, some on the very summit, and on the lee "side" of the 
waves, with the white foam of the water against which the 
winds first struck, and which, from high points, was lifted up 
into spray; but in all other places, hurled along with the 
intense rapidity of its own motion, until the whole prospect, 
on the lee side of the ship, seemed one field of drifting snow, 
dashed along furiously to its dark borders by the howling 
storm. 

In the meantime our ship gathered herself up into the com- 
pactness and buoyancy of a Duck — and except the feathers 
that had been plucked from her wings before she had time to 
fold her pinions — she rode out the whirlwind without damage, 
and in triumph. It was not the least remarkable, and by far 
the most comfortable circumstance, in this combination of all 
that is grand and terrible, that, furious as were the winds, tower- 
ing and threatening as were the billows, our glorious bark pre- 
served her equilibrium against the fury of the one, and her 
buoyancy in despite of the alternate precipice and avalanche 
of the other. True it is, she was made to whistle through her 
cordage, to creak and moan through all her timbers, even to 
her masts. True it is, she was made to plunge and rear, to 
tremble and reel and stagger ; still she continued to scale the 
watery mountain, and ride on its very summit, until, as it 
33 



258 Thurlow "Weed's 

rolled onwards from beneath her, she descended gently on her 
pathway, ready to triumph again and again over each succeed- 
ing wave. At such a moment it was a matter of profound 
deliberation which most to admire, the majesty of God in the 
wind and waves, or His goodness and wisdom in enabling his 
creatures to contend with and overcome the elements even in 
the fierceness of their anger ! To cast one's eyes abroad in the 
scene that surrounded me at this moment, and to think man 
should have said to himself, " I will build myself an Ark in the 
midst of you, and ye shall not prevent my passage — nay, ye 
indomitable waves shall bear me up ; and ye winds shall waft 
me onward!" And yet there we were in the fullness of this 
fearful experiment ! 

I had never believed it possible for a vessel to encounter such 
a hurricane without being dashed or torn to pieces, at least in 
all her masts and rigging : for I am persuaded that had the 
same tempest passed as furiously over your town, diiring the 
same length of time, it would have left scarcely a house stand- 
ing. The yielding character of the element in which the 
vessel is launched, is the great secret of safety on such occasions. 
Hence when gales occur upon the wide Ocean there is but 
little danger ; but when they drive you upon breakers on a lee 
shore, where the keel comes in contact with " the too solid 
earth," then it is impossible to escape shipwreck. I never ex- 
perienced a sensation of fear on the Ocean — but this tempest 
has increased my confidence tenfold, not only in the Sea, but 
in the Ship. It no longer surprises me that few vessels are lost 
at Sea — for they and their element are made for each other. 
And the practical conclusion from this experience of a gale is 
encouraging for all my future navigation. I shall have confi- 
dence in my Ship now, as I have ever had in the Sea. Ever 
since my eyes first rested on the Ocean, I have cherished an 
instinctive affection for it, as if it was capable of sympathy and 
benevolence. When calm it is to me a slumbering infant. 
(Your own Moses, for instance.) How tranquilly it sleeps ! — 
no trace of grief or guilt is on its forehead — no trouble in its 
breast. It is a mirror in which the clear blue sky beholds the 
reflection of its brightness and purity. * * * * * 



Letters from Europe. 259 



XXX. 



HAVRE, August 29. 



"I sit down to write you a line — only think ! 
A letter from France, with French pens and French ink ! " 

"We got into the docks at 12 o'clock, and I set foot on 
the soil of " La Belle " France amid the chatterings of 
men, monkeys and parrots, all in a language alike unin- 
telligible. I feel, far more sensibly than I expected, the 
embarrassment and mortification and reproach of being 
ignorant of a Language which has become so universal. 
My first impulse was to return, instead of attempting 
to travel deprived of two of the senses — for deprived 
I am, in all that can interest or instruct — of the sense 
of hearing and of speech. The ears and tongues of 
those who neither understand nor speak French, are 
quite useless. We are even worse off than mutes, for 
they have a language of signs. It is on such occasions 
as these that we realize and lament the waste of time. 
A very few of the hours and days and weeks that I 
have squandered, directed to the acquirement of the 
French language, would have now spared me the mor- 
tification of traveling through France virtually Deaf 
and Dumb ! But these regrets, so far as my own 
enjoyment is concerned, are wholly unavailing. Should 
others, however, read this Letter, let them be admon- 
ished to learn the French language, which can always 
be done without interference with other studies. With 



260 Thuelow Weed's 

such a knowledge of French, as may be acquired from 
the Books, a few days' residence in France, to accustom 
the ear to its pronunciation, enables the student to 
speak fluently and with ease. 

There is scarcely anything worth a Traveler's atten- 
tion at Havre. I am far more interested here with the 
People than the place. I had only seen the French 
individually. Here I encounter them as a Nation. 
We know that they are constitutionally a gay, polite 
and amusement-seeking race ; but then- gaieties, polite- 
ness and frivolity far exceed my expectations. You 
would infer, on landing at Havre, from the numbers of 
Monkeys and Pai'rots upon the docks, that these were 
the main articles of French commerce. And in walk- 
ing through the streets, from the endless variety of 
gewgaws and frippery displayed in shop windows, you 
would suppose that the French people were given over 
to levity and lightness. As for the People themselves, 
they seem to be living without responsibility or care. 
In strolling through the place, I find nobody anxious or 
thoughtful — nobody miserable or even unhappy. 
And the few mendicants you see, come, not with 
wo-begone faces and a piteous tale, but seek to amuse 
you with the tricks of a Monkey, a white Mouse, a 
young Alligator, or some fantastical contrivance in 
Mechanism. 

On landing at Havre a Traveler begins (especially if 
he comes from England) to experience some of the 
Custom House annoyances and exactions which vex 
and plague you throughout Europe. Our party, for- 
tunately, had nothing contraband but a few Segars, on 
which they made us pay a second duty ; but the 



Letters from Europe. 261 

"searching operations" upon others were rigid and 
inquisitorial. A Lady from Ireland who came here to 
educate her children, brought a Trunk full of Clothes, 
upon each and every article of which she was required 
to pay a duty amounting, in most cases, to more than 
the articles would have cost here ready made, and in 
all cases, more than the material cost ! 

Havre is spoken of as a modern town, though 
founded some half century before the discovery of 
America. It has derived most of its commercial 
importance from the trade with our country. There 
are no castles or monuments here, and but few histor- 
ical associations. There are but four hours in twenty- 
four when large vessels can get in or out of the docks, 
which are capable of receiving 250 ships. There are 
American or English partners in most of the Shipping 
Houses here ; and the English language is more spoken 
here than in any other town in France. Havre was a 
point of considerable interest during the early wars 
between France and England. The Duke of Rich- 
mond embarked from this port in 1485, with 4,000 men 
furnished by Charles VIII, and with whom, backed by 
the forces which joined him after he landed at Milford 
Haven, he encountered and overthrew the Usurper and 
Tyrant, Richard III. Shakspeare, you will remember, 
makes Radcliffe report the rumored embarkation of 
Richmond to King Richard, thus : 

" Most mighty Sovereign, on the western coast 
Rideth a puissant Navy ; to the shore 
Throng many doubtful, hollow-hearted friends, 
TJnarm'd and unresolved, to beat them back ; 
'Tis thought that Richmond is their Admiral, 
And there they hull, expecting but the aid 
Of Buckingham to welcome them ashore." 



262 Thurlow Weed's 

The Huguenots surrendered Havre to Queen Eliza- 
beth in 1562, but the English, under the Earl of War- 
wick, were subsequently driven out by a besieging 
army commanded by the Constable Montmorency. 
The fleet of William III made an unsuccessful attempt 
to recapture the place in 1694. And in 1796 Sir 
Sidney Smith, in attempting to cut out a French ship 
from under its batteries, got upon the sand banks, and 
was himself captured by some gunboats. 

English or American travelers, on landing at Havre, 
are required to go personally before the Mayor, who 
receives their passports and gives them a temporary 
permit for Paris, whither the originals follow them. 

Rouen, August 30. 

We left Havre this morning at 8 o'clock, in the 
steamer for this place, which is about 90 miles. There 
were from 250 to 275 passengers, with a sprinkling of 
Monkeys, Parrots and Poodles. There is no regulation 
here, which prohibits "smoking abaft the wheel." 
Some twenty or thirty French gentlemen with huge 
moustaches, are puffing their Segai-s in the faces of an 
hundred Ladies. Such an exhibition of bad taste and 
ill-manners, in America, would have furnished John 
Bull with chapters for at least a dozen books ; but in 
France they pass such things without remark. 

The day was bright and the passage up the beau- 
tiful Seine exceedingly pleasant. The bay, at the 
mouth of the River, is seven miles wide. We stopped 
at Honfleur (one of the towns in France made classi- 
cal in the " Sentimental Journey ") to receive passengers. 
It is a dirty looking place, with 10,000 inhabitants, 



Letters from Europe. 263 

whose principal traffic is in eggs, of which they send 
seven thousand dozen to England weekly. They 
raise excellent fruit here, some of which (melons and 
peaches) was brought on board. There are several 
towns on the Seine enjoying considerable commerce, 
as is indicated by the number of vessels at their 
wharves. There is much rural beauty along its banks ; 
but in Agriculture France is evidently a century 
behind England and America. The various products 
of the soil are cultivated in patches instead of fields. 
The country seems divided into gardens rather than 
farms. There are no fences here, as with us, nor hedges, 
as in England. You see but few cattle or sheep, and 
no hogs. A farmer of Western New York, who dashes 
into his hundred acre wheat field with a force sufficient 
to cut, rake, bind and thresh it in two or three days, 
would be infinitely amused with the primitive mode of 
harvesting in France. Here the wheat is all cut with 
the sickle, and then bound by women, who place the 
sheaves in a sort of scraggy rack upon the back of don- 
keys, that move along behind the reapers. When the 
donkey gets loaded (some eight or ten small sheaves in 
each of his wooden saddle-bags) he is marched off to 
the road, where the wheat is transferred to a clumsy 
wagon and drawn lazily hence by three French ponies, 
tandem, to the Granary ! In this way a dozen people 
consume a day in harvesting an acre. Two-thirds of 
the persons I saw at work in the fields were women. 

At 12 o'clock the Passengers began to order their 
Breakfasts, which are served, as in their Cafes, in small 
rooms upon the guards of the Boat. The breakfasts 
generally consisted of red wine, a mutton chop and 



264 Thurlow "Weed's 

bread. A few ordered Coffee instead of wine, and some 
added butter to their bread ; while others substituted a 
boiled egg for the mutton chop. As there were more 
than 200 persons to be provided for in this way, the 
culinary department displayed much activity for two or 
three hours. I have known People, however, whose 
fastidiousness would have preferred a long fast to a 
breakfast upon plates and with knives and forks that 
had served twenty others without having been removed 
from the table. 

There are several very pleasant Towns along the 
Seine, the prettiest of which is Candebec, that seems, in 
passing, like a beautifully painted landscape. All 
around Candebec you see lovely Villas and Chateaux. 
This town was taken by the English, under the Earls 
of Talbot and "Warwick, in 1419. Quill eboef, an old 
town with considerable shipping at its docks, is situated 
upon a projecting promontory, and shows very conspic- 
uously. The navigation of the Seine, at this point, is 
difficult and dangerous, on account of the rapidity with 
which the tides change the position of the sand bars. 
Vessels are frequently lost here. During the French 
Eevolution the Telemaque, a Vessel containing the 
money and jewels of Bourbon Princes, was wrecked 
and sunk here. These immense treasures are talked of, 
coveted, and sighed for, here, as is the specie supposed 
to have been swallowed in the British Ship-of-War sunk 
near Hurlgate during our Revolution. 

There are clusters of hamlets along the River, all 
enjoying the shade of fine groves, where the Peasantry 
seem passing lives as pastorally tranquil and happy 
as fall to the lot of man. Indeed, passing up this 



Letters ekom Europe. 265 

charming River, I saw many Cottages the grace and 
beauty of which awakened sensations as delightful as 
those expressed so sweetly and melodiously by 
Mooee : 

" I knew by the smoke, that so gracefully ourl'd 
Above the green elms, that a Cottage was near, 
And I said, ' If there's peace to be found in the world, 
A heart that was humble might hope for it here." 

This place (Rouen) is the capital of ancient Nor- 
mandy, and is second only to Paris in historic associa- 
tions; and in some respects scarcely second even to 
Paris. Under the auspices of Capt. Funk, the excellent 
and popular Commander of the Packet Ship Baltimore, 
who had just arrived from New York, and who accom- 
panied us to Paris, we visited the numerous objects of 
interest in and about Rouen. In going to our Hotel we 
passed through several long, narrow, dark, damp streets, 
rudely paved, and without sidewalks, whose high gable- 
faced buildings at the eaves approached so near as 
almost to form an arch, and to exclude all but some 
feeble rays of heaven's light and air. Arrived at the 
Hotel I was shown into the fifth story of a most anti- 
quated building. The Stairs are of Stone, into which 
footsteps have worn several inches. The bed-room is 
paved with a species of brick, octagonal in form, and 
of variegated colors. There is an oaken table and two 
rude chairs in my room that are probably as old as our 
good City of Albany. Rouen, though very ancient, is not 
in any respect a ruin. It is a busy, bustling, thrifty town. 
Its commerce is large, and its manufactures very con- 
siderable ; and it contains a population of 92,000. 
The Seine spreads out 1,000 feet here, and Rouen has 

34 



266 Thublow Weed's 

clocks and wharves for 250 Vessels. Along the Quay 
the old buildings have been demolished, and replaced 
by blocks of spacious and massive yellow marble. 
These modern structures present a beautiful front or 
facings, for an interior of dark, devious, desolate, wind- 
ing labyrinths, from which a stranger extricates himself 
with difficulty. In walking through the centre parts of 
Rouen you encounter bad pavements, all sorts of filth, 
and the most villainous odors. 

Our first visit was to the Cathedral of Notre Dame, 
a vast and venerable pile, " whose frown " (as Coun- 
sellor Phillips said of Napoleon) " terrifies the glance 
his magnificence attracts." Without attempting to 
describe this splendid Church, let me remind you of 
some of its associations. One of its tall spires was 
destroyed by lightning in 1822, in the place of which, 
somebody's bad taste suggested a long, horrid looking 
iron tube or chimney, which now deforms and mars tho 
view. The first Duke of Normandy was buried here in 
the 13th century. The heart of Richard Cceur de 
Lion, and the bodies of his brothers, Henry and Wil- 
liam, and of their uncle, the Duke of Bedford, were 
interred here. During the French Revolution, the 
enormous Bell, together with the Coffins in which sev- 
eral of the Cardinals, &c, had been interred, were 
taken away and melted into cannon and coins by the 
Revolutionists. 

The Bibliotheque Publique of Rouen contains 33,000 
volumes, among which is a richly ornamented manu- 
script history of the Normans, written in the 12th Cen- 
tury. The Musee des Antiquites is rich in curiosities, 
and no stranger should pass Rouen without seeing 



Letters from Europe. 267 

them. In this collection, you see the door of the house 
in which Corneille was born. Its windows are all of 
the painted glass from suppressed Convents, Churches, 
&c, and form a chronological series from the 1 3th to the 
14th century. Among the Autographs, is the " mark " 
of "William the Conqueror, who could not write ! 
There are also the signatures of Richard Coeur de 
Lion and several Norman Princes. Adjoining this 
building is a Museum of Natural History. 

The Church of St. Jervais is supposed to be the old- 
est in Rouen, and one of the first Christian Edifices in 
France. Its Roman tile, and its style of masonry, 
authorizes a belief that its construction was commenced 
as early as the 4th century. William the Conqueror, 
suffering from the wound received at Mantes, retired to 
the Monastery of St. Jervais to die, deserted by friends, 
plundered by dependents, and abandoned even by his 
own sons. 

There is a very miserable statue near the Place de la 
Pucelle, which indicates the spot where the heroine 
Joan d' Arc was burned alive as a sorceress in 1431. 
The Quarterly Review, in an article vindicating the 
character of this Christian enthusiast and martyr, says 
that she was sacrificed in the presence of Cardinals, 
Priests and a multitude of People ; that while the flames 
were circling around her she held up the emblem of her 
faith and died expressing her conviction in the truth of 
her mission. In Prison she was subjected to insult, 
treachery and outrage. She was dragged to trial with- 
out counsel, and browbeaten by her brutal judges. 
But shameful as was the injustice of England towards 
this illustrious maiden, they were not alone cruel and 



268 Thuelow Weed's 

remorseless. Her accuser, her unjust Judge, and the 
false Priest who, under the guise of friendship, acted the 
spy, were Frenchmen. And even Charles VII, who 
owed his Throne to her enthusiasm and gallantly, 
extended neither his protection nor his sympathy to 
her. Some twenty years after her death, her innocence 
was proclaimed, and the French, having become masters 
of Rouen, raised a cross on the spot where she had been 
bound to the stake. 

It was at Rouen that Henry VIII, attended by Cardinal 
"Wolsey, had an interview with Francis I. The House 
in which Corneille was born stands in the Rue de la 
Pie, and a splendid Statue in honor of that great writer 
is seen at the end of the beautiful Bridge over the 
Seine. 

Rouen is the Lowell of France. Its Manufactories 
furnish employment for 50,000 people. 

I have been trying to stop this sufficiently long yarn, 
but my pen has kept running, with a sort of cork-leg 
pertinacity, until it has at least exhausted the patience 
of those whose good nature may have beguiled them 
half way through a " thrice told tale." So I'll now to 
bed, in a cell strong and gloomy, and old enough to 
have been some unlucky wight's prison house three or 
four hundred years ago. 



Letters feom Europe. 269 



XXXI. 

PARIS, September 16, 1843. 

After closing a Letter, more than a fortnight ago, at 
Rome, I determined to stop scribbling. The attempt 
to speak either of France or Paris, without a knowledge 
of the Language, strikes me as presumptuous, if not 
ridiculous. But some very indulgent friends at home 
insist upon having further inflictions of my dullness. 
During the summer months, in the absence of interest- 
ing matter, I am aware that newspapers are compelled, 
in filling their columns, to take what offers, but it is in 
seasons of intellectual famine only, that then' readers 
will consent to be fed on mere husks. If, therefore, my 
garrulity should exhaust the patience of the readers of 
the Evening Journal, I shall look for " acquittance " to 
the " enforcement " of my friends. 

Paris is situated upon a vast plain. There is no dif- 
ficulty in obtaining, from several elevations, fine pan- 
oramic views of the whole metropolis. These views 
present to the eye and to the imagination a City as 
beautiful in prospect as it is rich in associations. You 
survey, at a single glance, objects which require ages 
for mental digestion. 

The river Seine divides Paris with almost geographi- 
cal accuracy. What was originally Paris, is now a cen- 
trally situated Island, connected with both shores by 
Bridges. The magnificent Church of Notre Dame, 



270 Thuklow Weed's 

where Napoleon was Crowned, is upon this Island. 
The Seine is move of a river, through Paris, than I had 
supposed. Its width, at the Bridge of Ansterlitz, is 180 
yards. In 1836 there was a population hero of 900,000, 
exclusive of soldiers and strangers. Of the 24,000 
deaths that year, over 900 occurred in the Hospital ; 
and of the 29,000 births during the same year, nearly 
5,000 infants were ushered into this " breathing world " 
at the Hospital. There are over 80,000 Paupers in the 
Hospitals of Paris. 

There is a strange Physiological fact in relation to 
the Parisians. Paces, it is said, run out here. Or in 
other words, Families residing constantly in Paris, be- 
come extinct in one or two centuries. But compara- 
tively few families, it is affirmed, residing constantlv in 
Paris, can trace then- genealogy back beyond the Reign 
of Louis XIII. The constitutions of those Avhose an- 
cestors constantly resided in Paris, for several genera- 
tions, became so effeminate and frail that their offspring 
are generally short lived; while the Noblesse and 
Gentry, who pass then* summers in the country, upon 
then Manors and at their Chateaux, preserve vigorous 
constitutions and robust health. 

Paris rests upon yellow marble formations, from 
which its Hotels, Mansions, Castles, Palaces, &c, are 
almost wholly constructed. This marble, when taken 
from the quarries, is scarcely harder than chalk, but by 
exposure to the atmosphere acquires solidity and en- 
dures like granite. 

The expenses of the city amount to from forty-eight 
to lift}- millions of francs annually, of which sum thirty 
millions of francs is derived from their " Octroi Duty." 



Letters from Europe. 271 

This is a duty paid upon all articles for consumption 
brought into the metropolis, of which Wine is the prin- 
cipal. Indeed the amount paid on Wine far exceeds 
that derived from all other articles. The receipts into 
the city Treasury for several years past, have exceeded 
the expenditures by several millions of francs annually. 
Guards are stationed at all the gates and avenues lead- 
ing into the city, to prevent smuggling. Every vehicle 
and individual, high or low, are subject to inspection 
when entering the city. 

I find a vast amount of statistical information in Bul- 
wer's work on France, a few items of which follow. 
Cattle vary in value from 300 to 350 francs per head. 
Sheep sell from 20 to 25 francs. The price of Bread is 
regulated twice a month, and in ordinary seasons 
amounts to about threepence per pound. There were 
56,707 tradesmen's licenses issued in 1840, for which 
8,529,937 francs were paid to the city. Mechanics re- 
ceive from three to five francs per day, and work from 
10 to 12 hours. Laborers receive only from 25 to 35 
sous per day. The shops are all kept by young women, 
who receive their board and from 150 to 400 francs per 
annum, according to their intelligence and attractions. 
But few journeymen or laborers work on Sunday after- 
noon or Monday morning. Fuel is very expensive 
here. Wood is sold in baskets in dimensions something 
less than a bushel, at five francs per basket. From the 
departments above Paris, about 14,000 boats arrive an- 
nually with the productions of the soil ; and from 
Rouen and Havre about 1,000 boats come freighted 
with colonial produce. The Poultry and Grame con- 
sumed cost 7,475,041 francs, in 1840; Butter, 11,507,695 



272 Thttblow Weed's 

francs; Oysters, 1,991,974; Eggs, 5,316,938. There 
is a large Floral traffic here. Flowers are for sale in 
all the market places, and the amount received for 
them, on Fete days, is said frequently to exceed 30,000 
francs ! 

The Slaughtering for Paris is done in " Abattoirs," 
five of which were constructed by the order of Napo- 
leon, at different points, in the environs of the city, at 
an expense of 16,510,000 francs. These extensive and 
well regulated establishments are much visited by 
strangers. 

Rides about Paris are cheaper than in London or 
New York. A Cab, in which four persons ride com- 
fortably, is required to take you to any part of the city 
for one franc and three-quarters, or if by the horn-, for 
two francs. A Cabriolet, holding two persons, takes 
you to any part of Paris for thirty sous, or if by the 
hour, one franc. You are expected to add two or three 
sous as a gratuity to the Driver. Omnibus lines are 
established throughout Paris, and to all the places of 
interest about its environs. You ride wherever you 
please about Pans, in an Omnibus, for six sous. 

Having alluded to the fact that "Women are the 
" Salesmen " throughout Paris, it is proper to say that a 
sort of reciprocity exists. Much of the work performed 
by Women with us, is done here by Men. In most of 
the Hotels you find men " chambermaids," who make 
your beds and put your " room to rights." The scrub- 
bing — and as carpets are little used here there is much 
of it — is done by Men. Much of the washing, too, is 
done by males. Clothes, linen, &c, is not here, as with 
us, washed at home. It is taken away on Mondays by 



Letters from Europe. 273 

persons who have extensive arrangements for the pur- 
pose, either into the country or to large Arks upon the 
river. In approaching Paris you see numerous fields 
devoted to this business, and along the river acres of 
Arks with hundreds of People are engaged with " foul 
linen." The cooking for Paris is mostly done by Men. 
You will see, therefore, that in this exchanging of 
work the gentler sex get a decided advantage. 

We took lodgings, upon our arrival in Paris, at the 
" Hotel Memice," in the Rue de Eivoli, fronting the 
Garden of the Tuilleries. This is perhaps the best 
Hotel in Paris, and is so much frequented by English 
and Americans that the most of the servants speak 
English. We sat down to Dinner there at the " Table 
d'Hote " with about an hundred Ladies and Gentlemen. 
The table furniture and ornaments were similar to those 
at the Astor House, and the courses and dishes, though 
differently served, were in many respects the same as 
we get there. With the exception of soups, of which 
we had here half a dozen different kinds, there are a 
greater variety of meats and more dishes and delicacies 
to be found upon the Astor House table, every day, than 
you get at the most exj)ensive and fashionable Dinners 
in Paris. But the ostentatious manner of serving Din- 
ners here gives to them an appearance of variety and 
profusion which is artistic and unreal. But there is 
one feature of the culinary system of Paris with which 
I am delighted. Their meats are all "well done." 
There is no Cannibalism here. Your roast beef, your 
boiled mutton, your game, &c, &c, when carved, do 
not look as if they came directly from the shambles. 

Immediately after we were set down at Meurice's I 

35 



274 Thuelow Weed's 

strolled into the Garden of the Tuilleries, where thou- 
sands of People were quietly enjoying its grateful shade 
and delicate air. Some walked upon its ten-aces, around 
its fountains or its flower beds, while others sat in its 
arbors or under its trees. Children, in joyous groups, 
were at their gambols under the eye of their Govern- 
esses ; Belles with gallants in large Moustaches, were 
promenading; Young Ladies in great numbers were 
engaged with then* needlework ; while old Ladies 
without number were fondling then lap-dogs. In other 
parts of the Garden numerous Families of the humbler 
class were sitting under trees, and cheerfully partaking 
of then frugal repast — bread and wine. 

The Garden of the Tuilleries contains 67 acres, and 
is situated upon the north bank of the Seine, fronting 
the Palace of the Tuilleries on the east, and the Place 
de la Concorde on the west. Near the Palace are two 
insular flower gardens. An abundant and refreshing 
foliage is furnished by groves of large chestnut, elm, 
orange and lime trees, interspersed in all directions with 
Statues. Chans are found all about the Garden, for the 
use of which you pay two sous. On Sunday after- 
noons, when the weather is warm, the Garden frequently 
exhibits a dense mass of People. Among the Statuary 
are figures of Prometheus, Alexander, Theseus, Cin- 
cinnatus, Spartacus, Themistocles, Diana, Flora, Venus, 
&c. In the summer the Garden is open from 7 a. m. 
until 9 in the Evening, when guards, by beat of the 
drum, warn the visitors out and close the gates. 

Adjoining the Garden of the Tuilleries is the Place 
de la Concorde. This is a point of far greater and more 
thrilling historical interest than any other in Paris. 



Letters from Europe. 275 

The name which it now bears, not less than the quiet 
grace and beauty with which it has been adorned, seem, 
designed to efface, as far as possible, the horrors of its 
bloody history. It is situated between the Garden of 
the Tuilleries and the Champs Elysees, and looks out 
to the west upon the Madeleine Church, and to the east 
upon the Chamber of the Deputies, on the right of 
which is also seen the magnificent Dome of the Hospital 
of Invalides. The prominent feature of the Place de la 
Concorde is the magnificent Obelisk erected 1550 years 
before Christ, in front of the Temple of Thebes, which, 
with Cleopatra's Needles, were presented to the French 
Government by the Viceroy of Egypt. Eight hundred 
men, under the direction of French Engineers, were 
employed three months in removing these enormous 
presents from their original positions to the Nile, where 
they were shipped in a flat bottomed vessel built to re- 
ceive them. The Obelisk reached Paris in 1833, but 
was not elevated utitil 1836, in the presence of the 
Royal Family and an immense multitude of the French. 
The Obelisk, as dug from the Egyptian quarry, is 72 
feet in height, and weighs 500,000 pounds. It stands 
upon a plinth of granite weighing 240,000 pounds, 
which, with the pedestal, is 28 feet high, and forms of 
pedestal, plinth and obelisk a column 100 feet high. The 
removal of this Obelisk from Thebes and its erection 
upon the Place de la Concorde, cost the French Gov- 
ernment over two millions of francs, or more than 
$400,000. 

But quiet and beautiful as the Place de la Concorde 
is, there are thousands yet living in Paris who have 
seen several heads and lifeless bodies swimming 1 in their 



27G Thureow Weed's 

own blood, where all is now so pacific that lambs may 
play and doves coo in safety. In May, 1770, at a Fete 
given hero in honor of the marriage of Louis XVI, some 
horses taking fright at a discharge of fire-works, a panic 
and rush ensued, during which 1,200 persons were 
trampled to death. Subsequently the King and Queen 
(Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette) were beheaded 
upon the spot where their nuptials had been so fatally 
celebrated. In July, 178!), the People of Paris assem- 
bled here preparatory to their triumphant rush upon 
the Bastile. I lore, in addition to tho Xing and Queen, 
the Duke of Orleans, Hkissot, IIkkiuort, Danton, Des- 

MOUEINS, AnAOIIAKSIS, CloOTZ, U( HlKSl'1 ki;i;k. Dumas, St. 

Just, Cothion, Elizabeth, sister of Louis XVI, the 
Wives of Dksmouun, I Lerbert, &c., &c, with hundreds 
of their followers, were brought to tho block. In less 
than a year and a half nearly 3,000 persons were be- 
headed upon this memorable spot. In contemplating 
these horrors, it is consoling to reflect upon the retribu- 
tive vongeanco with which tho Monsters were them- 
selves visited. There is certainly much of that wisdom 
and justice which is higher than man, in the Providence 
that brought the heads of Danton, Heeheet, Dumas, 
RobesPIekke, <&c, to tho Guillotine that was drenched 
and gorged with tho blood of their victims. 

The Champs Klysees are indeed Klysian Fields. 
Such a promenade for a vast city is above all price. 
None but those who have walked here on a warm after- 
noon or evening, can form anything like just conceptions 
of the beauty and luxury of tho Champs Elysees. 
These fields extend along the Southwestern boundaries 
of tho city from tho Place de la Concorde to the Tri- 



Letters from Europe. 277 

umphal Arch dT Etoile. There are broad carriage- 
ways shaded by trees resembling those upon the Col- 
lege Green at New Haven, running through the 
Champs, and on either side of these are extended lawns 
for promenades and sports. But the Champs Elysees, 
though always delightful, are only in full blaze at 
night, when all the arts of jugglers and mountebanks, 
and all the enchantments of music and melody, are ex- 
erted to draw forth the simple and the wise, the gay 
and the grave. Near the centre of this delightful spot 
Franconi's beautiful Olympic Circus is situated. In 
this place of amusement from three to four thousand 
assemble every night. I passed an evening there in 
equal admiration of the noble Horsemanship, and the 
exquisite beauty and taste displayed in the building. 
Concerts, vocal and instrumental, are given to thousands 
who stand or sit in front of the Cafes adjoining. In 
the Gardens, also adjoining the fields, you find gay 
throngs of dancers. In these Gardens are groves and 
arbors and fountains, all brilliantly lighted, not only 
with lamps, but with bright eyes and beaming faces. I 
saw, in one of these Gardens, on a Sunday evening, 
from two to three hundred couples engaged in the same 
dance. It must have been some such scene as this that 
inspired Moore with these exquisite lines : 

" While thus he thinks still nearer on the breeze 
Come those delicious dream-like harmonies, 
Each note of which but adds new downy links 
To the soft chain in which his spirit sinks. 
He turns him toward the sound, and far away 
Through a long vista, sparkling with the play 
Of countless lamps — like the rich track which Day 
Leaves on the waters, when he sinks from us, 
So long the path — its light so tremulous ; — 
He sees a group of female forms advance, 



278 Thuklow Weed's 

Some chained together in the mazy dance 
By fetters, forged in the green sunny bowers, 
As they were captives to the King of Flowers ; 
And some disporting round, unlinked and free, 
Who seemed to mock their sisters' slavery, 
And round and round them still, in wheeling flight 
Went, like gay moths about a lamp at night, 
While others walked, as gracefully along 
Their feet kept time, the very soul of song 
From psaltery, pipe and lutes of heavenly thrill, 
Or their own youthful voices, heavenlier still. 
And now they come, now pass before his eye, 
Forms such as Nature moulds when she would vie 
With fancy's pencil, and give birth to things 
Lovely beyond its fairest pioturings; 
Awhile they dance before him, then divide, 
Breaking, like rosy clouds at eventide 
Around the rich pavilion of the sun. 



Letters from Europe. 279 



XXXII. 

PARIS, September 20, 1843. 

The Palace of the Tuilleries is the winter residence of 
the King. It was, you know, the scene of many stirring 
and startling events during the Revolution of 1789. It 
was taken also, by the People, in the Revolution of 
1830. It stands on the bank of the Seine, having the 
Grarden of the Tuilleries for its west, and the Louvre 
for its east front. When it was supposed that the Queen 
of England might extend her visit to Paris, extensive 
repairs were ordered at this Palace, during and since 
which it has not been open to visitors. 

All who come to Paris visit the Louvre, and as almost 
everybody has written about it, I will not be tedious. 
Its early history is unknown. A Castle existed here in 
the earliest ages of the Monarchy. In the time of Philip 
Augustus it was used as a Prison for titled offenders. 
In 1528, under Francis I, it was rebuilt and enlarged 
Louis XIV designed much more extensive improve- 
ments, but did not complete them, and dining his Reign 
and the Reign of Terror, the Louvre was neglected. 
But Napoleon resumed and finished what was con- 
templated by his predecessor. It was the residence of 
several of the Kings of France. Charles IX fired 
from one of its windows upon the victims of St. Barthe- 
lemi. It has long been, however, exclusively devoted 
to the reception of works of Art, and after Napoleon 



280 Thuelow Weed's 

had despoiled Italy, &c, of their treasures, the Louvre 
displayed the richest collection of Paintings in the world. 
But the Allied Monarchs, when in Paris, stripped this 
great depository of Pictures and Statuary of many of its 
glories. Its magnificence, however, still excites admira- 
tion and wonder. These galleries are open to the free 
examination of strangers every day in the week but 
Monday. Artists from all parts of the world come here 
to improve themselves in making copies of the old 
masters. In passing through the Galleries I saw, in 
several instances, half-a-dozen Artists making as many 
copies of the same Picture. Around two of Mueillo's 
magnificent pieces I saw as many Painters at work as 
could get views of the original. Of the Parisian Artists 
thus employed in the Louvre, a large proportion are 
young Ladies, some of whom paint with much power 
and effect. 

The basement story of the Louvre is called the "Musce 
Royal des Antiques" and contains between eleven and 
twelve hundred pieces of Statuary, most of which is 
from the ancient cities of Greece and Rome. Think 
what an army these Statues would make if they were 
placed for review in an open field ! But the Picture 
Galleries are far more extensive. I have spent most of 
two days in these Galleries, without getting through 
them, and without attempting to look at half the Pictures 
I passed. The principal Gallery is 1,332 feet long and 
42 feet wide. Its walls are entirely covered with Pic- 
tures, amounting in number to over 1,400, of which 373 
are by French artists, 540 by Flemish and German, 
480 by Italians, and the remainder modern copies of 
ancient Pictures. The works of all living artists are 



Letters from Europe. 281 

excluded from the Louvre. I am so deficient of know- 
ledge and taste, in Pictures, as not to appreciate the works 
of the most illustrious artists. At the Louvre, I passed 
the master-pieces of Claude Lorain, Titian, Rubens, 
&c, with comparatively slight interest, to search and all 
but worship the divinely beautiful and sublime efforts 
of Murillo. 

We went to St. Cloud on Sunday, with fifteen or 
twenty thousand Parisians, who were attracted thither 
by a Fete. St. Cloud lies six miles from Paris, on the 
Seine. It is memorable as the place where Henry III 
was assassinated in 1589, and as the residence of Napo- 
leon during that period of the Revolution which placed 
him at the head of the French Government. Louis 
Phillippe resides in the Palace of St. Cloud most of 
the year. Charles X was residing here when the Revo- 
lution of 1830 broke out. 

I went to St. Cloud under an impression that its Fete, 
on Sunday, was in some way or sort a Religious Festi- 
val, but found it more like our 4th of July Celebrations 
than any thing I had ever seen. But in comparing it 
■with the 4th of July you can form only an imperfect 
and inadequate conception of the scene. Its object is 
amusement. To gratify this "ruling passion" of the 
French, the most grotesque, absurd, ludicrous and even 
frivolous exhibitions are found successful. The banks 
of the River, for more than a mile, were lined with 
booths, tents, stands, &c, in which all sorts of shows 
were to be seen, and every species of confectionery, fruit, 
trinkets and frippery were exposed for sale. In the 
beautiful grove adjoining, innumerable tables were 
spread, at which between eleven and twelve thousand 

36 



282 Thurlow Weed's 

visitors breakfasted. Around each table were minstrels, 
some exerting their vocal powers, while others " dis- 
coursed" instrurnentally. The first and most ambitious 
place of amusement was the Circus, in front of which 
the whole Troupe, with its Band, was stationed, exerting 
all their powers to draw an audience. The band would 
first play most clamorously. Then the manager, with 
impassioned voice and vehement gestures, would dwell 
upon the prodigies performed by his company ; then 
one of the company would throw a somersault by way 
of illustration; then the band would thunder again; 
then a lady (of which there were four in tight pants) 
would sing ; and then another lady would stand with 
one foot upon the Clown's head, holding the other leg 
in a horizontal position, and balancing a sword upon her 
nose. During these outward signs of the wonders to be 
seen within, the people kept dropping, like pigeons into 
a net, through the tent door. The price of admission 
was six soiis. The performance lasted an horn"; and 
then the same seductive arts were practised for another 
audience. Directly opposite the Circus was a Theatre, 
before which the Dramatis persona?, in tawdry costume, 
presented themselves. Here, too, these imitative heroes 
and heroines of the sock and buskin, like Hamlet's 
players, " split the ears of the groundlings with inex- 
plicable dumb show and noise." Next to the Theatre 
were the tents of Jugglers, Magicians, Mountebanks, 
Rope-dancers, &c, before each of which actors exhibited 
themselves in the skins of horses, bulls, lions, leopards, 
tigers, hyenas, alligators, &c, neighing, bellowing and 
roaring in ludicrous mockery of the beasts they at- 
tempted to personate. Opposite these were tents in 



Letters from Europe. 283 

which baboons, monkeys, parrots, rabbits, with all 
sorts of loathsome reptiles and creeping things were 
congregated. In front of these tents then proprietors 
would place the most knowing animal of their respec- 
tive collection through its exercises. The monkeys 
were made to do, and the parrots to say, almost every- 
thing. One rabbit beat the drum — and another played 
the tambourine, while a third danced to the second's 
music. Before one tent a man filled his mouth with 
live lizards ; at the next a boy stood with his arm in 
the mouth of an alligator ; at the next was a man with 
a huge anaconda wound around his body and neck, 
with his head in his hands ; and finally, stood a not ill- 
looking girl with two long black snakes wound round 
her arms, reposing then - heads in her bosom. Then 
came tents with human deformities, at the doors of 
which were representatives upon canvas of the mon- 
strosities to be seen within. Here was the " Largest 
Woman in the "World " ; there, a " Girl two years old 
weighing three hundred pounds " ; then " a Dwarf thirty 
years old and but twenty inches high"; then a " Man 
with eyes in the back-side of his head" ; then " a Wo- 
man with a horse's head," and finally, a veritable " Mer- 
maid, with scales and long hah, alive and swimming !" 
Next came the various contrivances for gambling, in a 
small way. Several large canvas halls for dancing, 
with " Bal" and " Bal Masque," in black letters painted 
upon them, were in readiness for the evening. In front 
of all the places of amusement the proprietors con- 
tinued, with a volubility which astonished me, and an 
eloquence quite irresistible, to admonish and entreat the 
people not to lose the last opportunity they would ever 



284 Thuelow Weed's 

have for witnessing the wonders to be revealed within 
their tents. 

Such is a veiy faint and imperfect description of the 
Fete of St. Cloud. The same scenes were repeated on 
two succeeding Sundays. It was attended not only by 
the lower and simpler classes, but thousands of well' 
dressed citizens of Paris were there, all, or nearly all, 
finding amusement in things that would scarcely gratif}" 
children in America. The ground selected for this Fete 
was a beautiful lawn, finely wooded, directly in front 
of the Palace. These Fetes are held all over France, with 
the approval and encouragement of the Government. 
They keep the People happy and quiet. I had heard, 
and now believe, that the prohibition, by the Govern- 
ment, of the accustomed amusements of the Parisians, 
would create a Revolution in a month. 

The Newspaper Press of Paris, though abundantly 
talented, is in all other respects far inferior to that of 
England or America. The Papers are all established 
by associations of men having personal objects to accom- 
plish. But few, if any, of them support, or are expected 
to support themselves. Instead of being devoted to the 
common welfare, they are made to subserve the views 
of the individuals or cabals by whom they are owned 
and controlled. There are but few occasions, if I am 
correctly informed, when the voice of an unshackled 
French Press is heard. Ambitious men use them as 
ladders to attain the elevations to which they aspire. 
The typography of these Journals is most unworthy of 
the taste and intelligence of the beautiful City of Paris. 
They are printed upon small sheets of inferior Paper, 
and there is scarcely a Newspaper in any of the Vil- 



Letters from Europe. 285 

lages of our State that is not executed in a more neat 
and workmanlike manner. 

The Americans who visit Paris, are under many obli- 
gations to a few of their Countrymen who reside here, 
for the establishment of an Athenaeum where American 
Newspapers, Reviews, Periodicals, &c, are to be found. 
English Visitors have long been thus accommodated at 
Galignani's. The expense of this establishment falls 
heavily upon a few gentlemen, among whom Mr. Draper, 
our Consul, and Mr. Ledyard, our Charge dAffaires, 
have been most active and liberal. The French Govern- 
ment has supplied this Athenseum with its State Papers, 
for Exchange with the several States of the Union. 
Mr. Ledyard has written to Col. Young, our Secretary 
of State, upon the subject, and is anxiously awaiting an 
answer. Authors and Publishers, in America, are re- 
spectfully solicited to contribute copies of new publica- 
tions to the Library of the Athenaeum. 

I have been fortunate in making the acquaintance of 
Robert Walsh, Esq., the former editor of the Philadel- 
phia National Gazette, and for several years the able 
Foreign Correspondent of the National Intelligencer. 
Mr. Walsh and his accomplished Lady, speak French 
as readily, and know Paris as thoroughly, as the best 
educated French themselves. Mr. W. is not only one 
of the best scholars, but among the best informed men 
in Europe. 

We visited the Royal Library under the auspices 
of Mr. Walsh. This immense Literary Storehouse 
occupies what was formerly the Hotel or Castle of the 
Duke de Richelieu. It stands upon an entire block, 
and fronts upon four streets. The Library contains 



286 Thurlow Weed's 

nearly one million volumes of printed Books and pam- 
phlets ; 80,000 Manuscript Volumes ; 100,000 Medals ; 
1,400,000 Engravings ; and 300,000 Maps, Plans, Draw- 
ings, &c. I did little else, as you may suppose, than 
walk these galleries. We did, however, stop to look at 
a few precious things, such as a large quarto Dictionary 
in Latin and Chinese ; another in Latin, Spanish and 
Arabic; a copy of the first edition of Aristotle, in 
Greek, printed in 1497 ; a copy of the Psalter, printed 
by Faust, in 1457 ; a copy of the first Latin Bible 
printed at Paris, in 1557; and copies of the works of 
Racine, Voltaire and Rosseau, with notes and annota- 
tions upon the margins in their own handwriting. But 
the most curious and interesting Book we saw, was a 
large volume with the manuscript songs, odes, melodies, 
&c, of Rosseau, set to music, of his own composition, 
also in manuscript ! The songs and music are beauti- 
fully written, and are entirely free from blots or erasures. 

I have visited several of the Literary Institutions of 
Paris in company with George Folsom, Esq., of New 
York, who continues to devote himself to historical 
researches, and whose visit abroad will result in further 
contributions, from him, to the early history of America. 
I also called with Mr. F. upon Mr. Warden, an enlight- 
ened and much respected gentleman who came to Paris 
in 1807 as Secretary to the American Legation, and 
who was for many years United States Consul here ; 
but who for the last fifteen years has devoted himself to 
literary pursuits. He is now publishing an extended 
history of America, eight volumes of which are out. 

Mr. Warden, during his long residence in Paris, has 
been accumulating Books in relation to America. These 



Letters from Europe. 287 

have grown into an extensive and valuable Library, 
which, in consequence of the loss of much of his prop- 
erty in American Stocks, he is compelled to sell. This 
Library, which consists of nearly 2,000 volumes, 
with valuable and rare Atlases, Maps, Charts, Prints, 
Medals, &c, relating to America, ought to be owned on 
our side of the water. Indeed there could scarcely be 
a more valuable acquisition to our own State Library. 
Mr. Warden, in remarking that his work, which is half 
through the Press, had been suspended by reason of the 
death of his publisher, stated that this publisher, who 
was eighty years old, remained until the last hour 
entirely engaged in business ; that he had accumulated 
a fortune the income of which exceeded 80,000 francs 
annually ; that he was without family, and had no sur- 
viving relatives ; and that he had died without making 
a will or indicating any wish or desire in relation to the 
disposition of his property. Mr. W. inquired very affec- 
tionately after Mr. Isaiah Townsend and Doctor Hun, 
whom he said were much with him when in Paris, and 
to whom he is much attached. 



288 Thuelow Weed's 



XXXIII. 

PARIS, September 23, 1843. 

Nothing about Paris strikes a stranger with more sur- 
prise than the quiet manner of conducting its business. 
You see little or nothing of the noise and bustle of 
other great cities. Neither the hum of commerce nor 
the din of manufactures are heard. There is more stir 
about the Basin at Albany, with greater demonstrations 
of business, than is to be met witli in all Paris. You 
even wonder how such a vast population are supplied 
with provisions ; and the wonder how they all sup- 
port themselves, is still greater. We, however, are 
strangers to the rigid system and habits of economy 
that prevail here. I am assured by an intelligent 
American who has been long here, that the expense of 
victualing Paris, with its million of mouths, does not 
exceed that of victualing New York. Nothing is 
wasted here, while in New York enough is thrown 
away daily to feed an hundred thousand Parisians. 
French science in cooking is everything to Paris. 
Many of their most delicate, as well as their most fre- 
quent dishes, are made of things which we reject as 
garbage. Many of their most delicious soups are com- 
pounded of materials which we have never dreamed of 
eating. Indeed there is no part of a creature, from its 
horns to its hoofs, out of which the French will not 
serve you up a savory dish. I came here with a deter- 



Letters from Europe. 289 

ruination to eschew the refinements in French cookery, 
but my resolutions and prejudices have yielded, day by 
day, and dish after dish, until I now eat whatever is set 
before me, taking care to smother all that looks like 
horse steak, cat stew, or rat pie, in Tomatoes. I have 
eaten as many varieties of soup, since I came to Paris, 
as there are subdivisions in a New England sermon, or 
verses in a chapter of the Book of Chronicles ; and for 
the most part I must say that these " Pottages " are 
excellent. With beef and vegetables, a French cook 
will serve you a capital Dinner, in three courses, for one 
franc. The tendency of French cooking is to diminish 
the quantity of meat, and to increase the proportions of 
bread and vegetables consumed ; and another and more 
important result of the perfection of their art, is to 
greatly diminish the expenses of living. Bread and 
wine, or perhaps I should say wine and bread, are the 
staples of life in France. You see Frenchmen in Cafos, 
in Gardens, and by the road side, dining not only con- 
tentedly but cheerfully, upon red wine and dry bread. 
I look from my window into the apartment of an hum- 
ble French family, who dine daily from a single soup, 
with wine and bread. The bread here, for families, is 
baked in rolls a yard long, and stands by the table with 
one end upon the floor, while the other rests against the 
wall. In commencing dinner the Master or Mistress of 
the Family cuts a slice and then passes the loaf round 
the table, each cutting for themselves, and then the roll 
is again placed upright against the wall. 

It is said that from thirty to fifty thousand of the 
inhabitants of Paris rise in the morning without know- 
ing where or how they are to get either a breakfast or 

37 



290 Thuelow Weed's 

a dinner. This class, for the most part, neither work 
nor beg, but in some way or another, enough sticks to 
their fingers, during the day, to enable them to procure 
the necessaries of life — wine and bread. 

Paris abounds in Hospitals, of which, in all, includ- 
ing Charitable Institutions where medical aid is fur- 
nished gratuitously, there are foety. There are separate 
Hospitals for nearly " all the ills that flesh is heir to." 
There are Hospitals, also, for the Insane, the Blind, the 
old and the maimed. There is a Hospital for men and 
another for women, who are afflicted with incurable 
diseases. There are, also, Asylums for destitute women 
and for children abandoned by their parents before 
they are old enough to support themselves. In all 
these abodes of wretchedness and suffering, those " Min- 
istering Angels," the Sistees of Chaeity, are to be 
found. Indeed there is no form or condition of human 
distress which these half divine women do not seek out, 
and as far as charity and kindness can go, relieve or 
mitigate. Their missions of mercy are executed with a 
fearlessness that no dangers can appal and no privations 
discourage. With a perseverance, a devotion and a 
fidelity, so high and hallowed that celestial spirits must 
look down approvingly upon them, these benevolent 
Sistees linger about the bedside of the sick, admin- 
istering cordials and balms to the convalescent, and 
soothing and tranquilizing the dying with the consola- 
tions of Religion. I went through the Hotel Dieu at 
Notre Dame, where there are beds for a thousand 
patients. In all the wards Sisters of Charity were mov- 
ing noiselessly about, smoothing the pillows, wetting 
the lips, chafing the hands, placing warm blankets at 



Letters from Europe. 291 

the feet, or in some other way ministering to the relief 
of patients apparently in the last stages of disease. The 
Steward who accompanied ns through the wards (an 
intelligent Soldier who belonged to Bonaparte's Young 
Guard) informed us that these good Angels were hov- 
ering about the sick and the dying, day and night ; that 
every groan brought one of them to the bedside of the 
sufferers ; and that while others slept, they waited upon 
and watched with those for whom there was neither 
rest nor sleep. These Sisters of Charity live among 
the dying. Their lives are passed, not in promoting 
their own interest or happiness, but in mitigating the 
sufferings, relieving the distress, and soothing the an- 
guish of others. They endeavor to confer upon the 
unfortunate and the miserable, what we selfishly seek 
to obtain for ourselves. How incapable is our sex of a 
life of such pure, disinterested, self-sacrificing benevo- 
lence ! To " Heaven's last, best gift to man " alone can 
we look for such generous, free-will sacrifices to the 
cause of Charity and Benevolence. 

Paris abounds, as you know, in magnificent Churches, 
the Architecture of which marks and distinguishes the 
different eras of their construction. Some were erected 
in the early, some in the middle, and others in the mod- 
ern ages. The Church of Notre Dame is supposed to 
have been founded by the Romans in 365, and grew, 
from century to century, into the splendid and imposing 
edifice you now contemplate with as much of awe as of 
admiration. Anything like a description of this stupen- 
dous Cathedral would fill a page of the Evening 
Journal. We were half a day looking at its Paintings, 
its Statuary, its carved work and its Monuments. It 



292 Thurlow Weed's 

was in this Church that Napoleon was proclaimed 
Emperor of the French. It was here that the Pope 
was constrained to accord the sanction of the Church to 
his Coronation. The costly and magnificent Robes 
worn on that occasion, which are preserved in the 
Chmch, were shown to us. 

From the Church of Notre Dame we proceeded to 
those of St. Eustache, St. Genevieve, the Madeleine, &c. 
The latter is a magnificent structure in the form of a 
Roman Temple. The interior of this Church is very 
expensively and richly embellished with Paintings and 
Statuary. Its construction was commenced by Napoleon, 
early in the present century, as an indemnity for a 
Church which he converted into a Temple of Glory. 
The Churches here are open all the days in the week. 
Daily masses are performed, and on Sundays and Fes- 
tivals masses are said by the Priests at intervals during 
the day. You never enter these Churches without find- 
ing more or less persons at their devotions. Candles 
are always burning upon then altars. You see persons 
in the confessionals, which are ranged along the sides of 
the Churches. I have seen no less than six Priests 
engaged with as many penitents, while half a dozen or 
more were awaiting then* turns at each confessional. 
At several of the Churches we visited, the marriage cer- 
emony was being performed. This ceremony, in addition 
to the parties and then friends, collects a crowd of spec- 
tators. The rite is performed with much solemnity. 
There are no Pews in these Churches. Those who sit 
occupy chairs ; for the use of which they pay two sous. 
Between the masses a servitor, preceded by a man in 
military costume, with a long staff, goes through the 



Letters from Europe. 293 

aisles with a plate, receiving the contributions of the wor- 
shipers. 

Within all these Churches and at their doors, you 
find scores of Mendicant Beggars (Women and Chil- 
dren), whose touching appeals cannot well be resisted. 
It is as impossible to give to all as it is to deny those 
preferring claims first. Travelers who return from Italy 
say that the sturdy Beggars there freeze up all the 
charitable emotions of our nature ; but I am quite sure 
that an American heart, unaccustomed as it is at home 
with the supplications of these destitute and famishing 
creatures, never denies them a Sou without experiencing 
that feeling of remorse by which Sterne was pained, 
after repulsing " The Monk " with unkindness. Indeed 
the Philosophy of Sterne, in relation to Beggars, is the 
philosophy of Nature and of Religion : 

" When all is ready, and every article is disputed, and paid 
for in the Inn, unless you are a little soured by the adventure, 
there is always a matter to compound at the door, before you 
get into your Chaise ; and that is with the sons and daughters 
of poverty, who surround you. Let no man say, " let them go 
to the devil" — 'tis a cruel journey to send a few miserables, 
and they have had sufferings enow without it. I always think 
it better to take a few Sous out in my hand, and I would coun- 
sel every gentle traveler to do so likewise ; he need not be so 
exact in setting down his motives for giving them — they will 
be registered elsewhere." 

The Hotels, public and private, as well as the Man- 
sion Houses of Paris, stand back from the streets. You 
pass to them through a formidable gateway and 
court. There is an apartment in the basement of every 
considerable House for the "Concierge," who directs 
strangers to the different Lodgings, observes all who 
pass and repass, and takes care that nothing is stolen 



294 Thurlow Weed's 

from the premises. The Hotels are visited daily by the 
Police, to examine the Passports of strangers. 

Those who have not visited Paris or made themselves 
familiar with its environs, will be surprised to learn that 
within a mile and a half of the City there is a dense 
Forest, covering many thousand acres. This is the 
Wood of Boulogne, than which a more delightful 
retreat, in a warm day, cannot be imagined. We rode 
through this Forest (more than two miles without an 
opening), on a pleasant Sunday afternoon, when thou- 
sands of persons were enjoying its grateful shade. 
Families come here with then- children, bringing their 
repast with them, to be eaten upon the grass under the 
trees. The Forest is intersjiersed with roads and walks, 
in which people lose themselves, and wander for hours 
without making their way out of the woods ! This is the 
" Bladensburgh " of Paris. All Duels, for hundreds of 
years, have been fought in the " Bois de Boulogne." 
And here, too, the miserable and the misanthropic, who 
are weary of life, " rid themselves of it." The Duke of 
Wellington, after the capitulation of Paris to the 
Allies, in 1814, quartered his Army in the Forest of 
Boulogne. 

From this Forest we passed to Ranelagh, a fashion- 
able and much frequented place of amusement, where 
Balls are given every Sunday and Thursday during the 
Summer. In returning we came through Passey, the 
village where Dr. Franklin resided while serving his 
Country as a Statesman and Patriot, and the World, as 
a Philosopher and Philanthropist. The Street in which 
he lived is still called the " Rue Franklin." 



Letters from Europe. 295 



xxxrv. 

PARIS, September 25, 1843. 

I have nowhere regretted my ignorance of the French 
language so keenly as in my visit to the "Hotel des 
Invalides, where you see 3,000 of Napoleon's Veterans. 
It would have been equally a source of instruction and 
enjoyment to converse with the surviving " actors in 
the scenes " which will render Bonaparte's Campaigns 
memorable in all coming time. As it was, I could only 
look at the men who carried the Eagles of France into 
Egypt, and dragged her Cannon over the Alps — men 
whose lives, for twenty years, were little else but a con- 
tinuous conflict — men who, in the language of Lord 
Byron, " ever slept upon the arms their fevered hands 
must grasp in waking." But though speech was denied 
me, the eyes furnished themes for the imagination. I 
saw the men who were with Massena and Davoust and 
Kleber and Bernadotte and Net and Soult and Ju- 
not and Mtjrat and Lannes and Mortier, at Marengo 
and Austerlitz and Wagram and Lutzen and Hohenlin- 
den and Jena and Lodi and Rivoli and Aboukir and the 
Pyramids. Here, too, were men who, after encounter- 
ing all the other dangers and horrors of War, saw thou- 
sands of their comrades perish under the snows of Rus- 
sia in their disastrous retreat from Moscow. And these 
men have about their persons the most unequivocal, as 
well as the most painful, evidences of the hard service 



296 Thurlow Weed's 

they have rendered. All, or nearly all here, will show 
you the bullet-hole or the sabre-cut to which he is in- 
debted for his medal of the " Legion of Honor." And 
certainly half of all I saw could tell you upon which 
of the fields of blood they left an arm or a leg. 

This magnificent Hospital has apartments for 5,000 
Invalids, and soon after 1814 contained nearly that 
number ; but time and " a long peace " has thinned 
their ranks. It covers 16 acres of ground. The oldest 
Marshal of France is by law Governor of tins Hospital. 
There are apartments here for Invalid Officers as well 
as Soldiers. Those only who have been disabled by 
wounds, or who have been 30 years in the Armies of 
France, are entitled to the privileges of the Hosjfital. 
The Officers and Soldiers perform the usual duty of 
troops in Garrison. You see, therefore, sentinels walk- 
ing their rounds, some with wooden legs and others 
with one arm. In the detachment you see marching 
about to mount and relieve Guard, more than one-half 
have left limbs to bleach in Egypt, Italy, Spain or 
Russia. They are abundantly provided with excellent 
wine, food, clothing, &c. Such as prefer money to 
rations are allowed to draw it, and those who have been 
deprived of both legs are paid an equivalent in money 
for the shoes they are entitled to but have no use for ! 
The Hospital measures 1,440 feet by 780. There are 
broad grounds with fine trees, under whose shade the 
Veterans "fight o'er their battles." In one of the 
groves is a pedestal with a bust of La Fayette, near 
which are mounted a large number of trophy Cannon, 
the fruits of Napoleon's campaigns, and in the capture 
of which these Invalids had a hand. 



Letters from Europe. • 297 

There is a Library belonging to the Hospital con- 
taining 30,000 volumes, selected by Napoleon. Here 
we saw a large number of the Invalids (officers and 
men) intently engaged with books. The guide in- 
formed us that they passed a lai'ge share of their time 
in the Library. From the galleries of the Chapel there 
are long rows of Flags, Banners and Standards; cap- 
tured in the various wars in which France has been en- 
gaged. Among the tombs beneath the Chapel are 
those of Marshal Jourdon and Count Laban, former 
Governors of the Hospital. The remains of Napoleon, 
when brought in 1840 from St. Helena, were deposited 
with great solemnity in the vault of this Chapel. 

From this Hospital we went to the Palace op the 
Luxembourg, which is also the Chamber of Peers. 
This Palace has been the residence of some of the 
members of the Royal Families of France for more 
than four hundred years. Its gardens, grounds and 
groves are extensive aad beautiful. In the early period 
of the Revolution it was converted into a Prison. Sub- 
sequently the Directory held its sittings here. The 
Chamber of Peers is situated at the head of a magni- 
ficent lawn looking down upon the Palace, and resem- 
bling the Pennsylvania Avenue at Washington. The 
Gardens and Groves abound in statuary, of much of 
which Greece and Rome were despoiled. In the 
Palace, among numerous other works of art, are twenty- 
four pictures of Rubens', allegorically historic of Marie 
de Medicis. Napoleon crowded its galleries with the 
noblest works of art; but those of which he plundered 
other Nations were reclaimed in 1815. In a wood near 
the eastern wall of the garden of the Luxembourg, I 



298 Thurlow Weed's 

saw the spot where Marshal Ney, whom Bonaparte 
distinguished as the " bravest of the brave," was shot. 
He was taken from an apartment in the Chamber of 
Peers at four o'clock in the morning by a detachment 
of the National Guard, and on arriving at the fatal 
spot, requested of the officer in command not to ban- 
dage his eyes ; and then taking his position, bared his 
breast and requested the Guard to do their duty, and 
it is said that so sure was the aim of each soldier that 
his person was pierced by the ball of every musket 
fired. Frenchmen here, in speaking of Ney, never fail 
to reproach Lord Wellington, who had the power, 
after his condemnation, to save him, but refused to 
interpose. 

The Pantheon, though apparently a spacious Church 
with a magnificent Dome, is in fact merely a Monu- 
ment. It was originally a Church, and afterwards an 
Abbey, both of which, however, became ruins, and in 
1670 the present structure, the expense of which was 
defrayed by Lottery, was erected as a great National 
Mausoleum. The pediment contains an ideal figure of 
France, by David, in sculpture, dispensing honors to 
her great men, among whom are Fenelon, Mirabeau, 
Voltaire, Rousseau, La Fayette, Carnot, Manuel, &c. 
Opposite are distinguished soldiers, with Napoleon in 
the front ground ; and in the corners, youths are seen 
studying. This edifice is supported by 388 massive 
Corinthian pillars. The Artist who painted the Dome 
received 100,000 francs and was made a Baron of 
France. Among the distinguished men interred in the 
Pantheon were Le Grange, the Mathematician, Bou- 
gainville, the Circumnavigator, De Winter, the Dutch 



Letters from Europe. 299 

Admiral, Voltaire, Rousseau, Marshal Lannes, &c. 
From the Cupola of the Pantheon you have an excel- 
lent and extended view of Paris and its Environs. 

I availed myself of the invitation of a Broadway 
Merchant (Mr. Young, of the house of Tiffany, Young 
& Ellis), to visit some of the maniifacturing establish- 
ments of Paris, and was surprised to find that Parisian 
mechanics had attained perfection in several depart- 
ments where England, until recently, was without 
competition. I am told that artisans and mechanics, of 
genius and enterprise, uniformly receive the patronage, 
and if necessary, the aid of the French Government, 
and that for several years France has competed suc- 
cessfully with England in the fabrication of much of 
which the latter country long enjoyed a monopoly. In 
Porcelain, the French superiority is conceded ; and in 
Glass, they are doing wonders. But then taste and 
genius in all the various gold and silver household 
ornaments, put competition into the shade. It is as 
impossible to describe, as it is to surpass, their exquisite 
workmanship. There is a gorgeousness, and yet a sim- 
plicity, in the different articles made here, for use and 
ornament, in Parlors, Boudoirs, Dressing-rooms, &c, 
that I have seen nowhere else. I consumed an entire 
day, very pleasantly, in looking through a dozen of 
these establishments from each of which Mr. Young was 
ordering goods for his house in New York — but I advise 
those who pass or look into their store before the holi- 
days, to leave their wallets at home, else they will be 
sure to return with empty pockets. In such an event, 
however, they may rely upon having received an 
equivalent, for the establishments here to which I refer, 



300 Thurlow Weed's 

desirous of dividing the American trade with John 
Bull, are sending over articles of intrinsic value. 

Paris has the appearance of a city under Martial 
Law. Its National Guard is doing duty as Policemen. 
Sentinels are stationed at the entrances of all the Pub- 
lic Institutions. Detachments of troops are quartered 
near each other, throughout the city. The number of 
soldiers now doing military and civil duty, in and about 
Paris, is over 50,000. All the young men of France, 
over 18 years old, are liable to be drawn into the Army. 
Indeed Bonapaete's odious Conscription law, by another 
name, is now practically in operation. When new 
levies of troops are wanted, all the young men in Paris 
are warned to meet in their respective Arondissements. 
If the number assembled be a thousand, and an hun- 
dred soldiers are wanted, a thousand numbers are pre- 
pared, from which each draws, and those who get the 
numbers from " 1 " to " 100," are doomed to the Army 
for eight years ! Those who are able, or fortunate in 
having wealthy relatives or friends, pay their seven, eight, 
nine, ten, and sometimes even fifteen hundred francs for 
a substitute. The pay of a French soldier is about one 
sou per day, or thirty-five dollars for eight years ! 
Their meat ration is less than half the weight of a sol- 
dier's ration in the British or American Arrny. The 
troops are under-sized men with slight frames, but they 
are alert in their movements, and are capable of per- 
forming hard service and enduring fatigue and pri- 
vation. 

The French live much out doors and at Cafes. 
They are seen, in great numbers, in Gardens, in Cafes 
and around Tables upon the Boulevards. Families, 



Letters from Europe. 301 

instead of dining at home, go frequently to Cafes and 
Restaurants. The guests at the Table d'Hote of the 
most fashionable Hotels consist in part of Ladies and 
Grentlemen who reside in Paris. The poorer classes, 
in great numbers, go for their Dinners without the 
city barriers, where they get wine which has not paid 
the Octroi duty, and is therefore very cheap. 

The Boulevards are the ornament and the pride of 
Paris. They surround and inclose the City. They 
are to the Metropolis what Regent street is to London, 
what Broadway is to New York, and what Chestnut 
street is to Philadelphia, though far surpassing either 
and all in magnificence and beauty. This delightful 
Avenue, in fts graceful sweep around the City, is nine 
miles in length. There are rows of fine trees planted 
upon terraces which divide the broad carriageway from 
the ample sidewalks. In the evening the Boulevards 
are brilliantly illuminated, and then the fashionable 
Stores, the fancy Shops and the various Picture and 
Print Windows, resplendent with all the productions of 
genius and taste, produce a most dazzling effect. Then, 
too, the Boulevards are graced by the fashion and 
beauty of Paris. During the Summer evenings fruits 
and creams and wine are served upon Tables under the 
trees. These scenes are enlivened by Music, partic- 
ularly upon the " Boulevard des Italiens," which is the 
resort of the most fashionable. The humbler classes 
congregate more in the " Boulevard des Temple," where 
they are amused with shows, pantomimes, rouge et 
noir, roulette, &c. The gambling here, however, is 
only for cakes, fruit, candies, &c. Among other con- 
trivances for gaming (the French are curious in all 



302 Thurlow Weed's 

such devices) they have something like a " Ten-Pin 
Alley," with this difference, that the Pins are knocked 
down by the spinning of a top, instead of rolling a 
ball among them. The great gambling houses or 
" hells " of Paris, in which such frightful robberies were 
formerly perpetrated, have all been suppressed. The 
Revolution of 1830, among other good things, put an 
end to licensed Gambling Houses and Lotteries. But 
the French passion for play is as strong as ever, though 
now indulged less injuriously to themselves and others. 
Men spend days and nights at Cafes playing chess, 
domino, &c. Billiard Tables are as common here as 
"Corner Groceries" in New York. Porters, Boot- 
Blacks, &c, who have then* stands at the corners of the 
streets, fill up their time with card playing. In walking 
for half an hour you will see half a dozen different par- 
ties at Cards upon the corners of public streets. 

I regret to perceive that the Editor of the Boston 
Courier has taken offense at an incident I mentioned in 
relation to the festive meetings of Free Masons at the 
Hotel where I lodged in London. He has quite mis- 
apprehended the spirit in which that incident was 
recorded. I scribble down what strikes me as curious, 
amusing or instructive. The fact which I mentioned 
was not, as the Editor of the Courier supposes, " drawn 
from my imagination." The facts occurred, just as I 
stated them, in the presence of several gentlemen, two 
of whom (Bishop Hughes, of New York, and George 
F. Leitch, Esq., of Skaneateles) are now in America. 

I perceive, too, that my very poor Letters have 
attracted the notice of a clever writer in the New 



Letters from Europe. 303 

World. They were hastily and crudely written for the 
indulgent and forbearing readers of the Evening Jour- 
nal, without the slightest expectation that they would 
have been deemed worthy either of the friendly or the 
critical attention of other Journals ; and I am quite 
sure that the writer in the New World will find no 
terms of disparagement in the justice of which I shall 
not assent. 



304 Thuklow Weed's 



XXXV. 

ANTWERP, October 14, 1843. 

When we were driven up, last evening, to the " Hotel 
du Parke," in this ancient city, the Host informed us 
that his House was full, and that as to-inorrow was 
" a Fete day " we were likely to get the same answer at 
the other Hotels. This information, with the rain 
descending in torrents, in a night pitchy dark, was any- 
thing but comforting. We were then driven over to 
the " Grand Labourer," where we were agreeably sur- 
prised with excellent accommodations. 

After cheering our spirits with a capital Flanders 
Supper, we inquired into the occasion of the "Fete" and 
were informed that the connecting link in a continuous 
Railroad from Antwerp to Cologne being finished, the 
Cars were to come through with the Directors, Digni- 
taries, distinguished Citizens, &c, for whom a Reception, 
a Dinner, a Ball and an illumination were being pre- 
pared by the citizens of Antwerp. 

At two o'clock to-day we repaired to the terminus of 
the Railway, at one of the magnificent Docks which 
were excavated by Bonaparte with a view of making 
Antwerp a great Commercial City, to await the arrival 
of the Train, in which it was hoped rather than 
expected, the Kings of Prussia and Belgium would be 
found. The Vessels in the Hai'bor were tastefully 
dressed with Flags, Streamers, &c. Among them were 



Letters from Europe. 305 

two American ships (the Concord of Boston, and the 
Moselle of New Orleans), on board of the former of 
which, under the glorious stars and stripes of our 
beloved country, we took our position. 

A noble Arch, with appropriate decorations, was 
erected at the " Station," and on either side of the Rail- 
way, for more than a mile, banners were displayed and 
throngs of people were assembled. The Train was 
announced, at 3 o'clock, by the firing of cannon, and 
arrived amid the acclamations of the multitude. 

Congratulatory Speeches, in a language not yet 
intelligible to me, were exchanged, after which the 
Guests proceeded in Procession to the " Bourse " 
(Exchange), where a sumptuous Dinner for 600 was 
smoking. 

The Illumination, in all the squares and public 
streets, was very brilliant, and the River was enlivened 
by a display of Fire-works and a large number of 
Barges and Gondolas moving about with Bands of 
Music, Variegated Lamps, Torches, &c. 

The Ball was given at the Theatre, which was 
prettily ornamented, but with less expense than has fre- 
quently been seen at the Park Theatre. The dancing 
commenced at eleven, and was continued, rather lan- 
guidly, till one, when supper was announced. The 
ladies were dressed naturally, and therefore elegantly. 
I admire the Flemish costume. Even their market- 
women, bating the clumsy wooden shoes they walk in, 
are neatly dressed. 

The completion of this Railway is very justly 
regarded as an important event to Belgium. It prom- 
ises to aid, in an essential degree, the commercial and 

39 



306 Thuelow Weed's 

manufacturing interests of the Nation. And it will 
attract all, or nearly all, the visitors to the Rhine, to 
Germany and to Italy, either when they go or when 
they return. What until recently was the work of ten 
days or a fortnight may now be accomplished in 
twenty-two hours. You may leave London in the 
morning and reach Dover by Railway in four hours, go 
over to Ostend by the steamer in eight hours, and be at 
Cologne, upon the Rhine, by Railway, in ten hours 
more. 

Belgium is crossed, in every direction, by Railways, 
which are well made and well managed. There are 
Railroads to all her principal towns. I have visited 
Antwerp, Brussels, Bruges, Ghent, Malines, Ostend, 
Valenciennes, &c, upon substantially constructed Rail- 
ways, all of which are Government enterprises. The 
fares upon the Belgic Railways ought to shame Eng- 
land out of her exorbitant demands. I paid but 9 
francs and 75 centimes (less than two dollars) in the 
first class cars from Antwerp to Ostend, 80 miles. For 
the same distance upon an English Railway you are 
charged more than treble this amount. 

I have more to say of Belgium, but not at this 
writing. 



Letters from Europe. 307 



XXXVI. 

PARIS, September 27, 1843. 

Pere La Chaise is the Cemetery after which those of 
Mount Auburn, near Boston, Greenwood, near Brook- 
lyn, Mount Hope, near Rochester, and others, were 
fashioned. It is situated upon a Hill by the northeastern 
barrier sloping gently towards the city, from the summit 
of which you have very commanding views of Paris, 
its Fortifications and its Environs. These grounds 
belonged, in the 14th century, to Pere La Chaise, the 
confessor of Louis XIV. They were subsequently 
purchased for a cemetery, to which purpose they were 
consecrated in 1801. The wall incloses over an hun- 
dred acres. These grounds are well wooded with 
cypress, willow and other trees, thickly interwoven with 
an undergrowth of evergreen, shrubbery and flowers. 
There is one broad avenue, and an infinite number of 
winding walks, in following which you are introduced 
to every description of Monumental Architecture. 
Wealth, Ambition, Taste, Affection and Grief, are all 
expressed, either ostentatiously, eloquently, devotedly 
or touchingly, in the Pyramids, Temples, Obelisks and 
Urns which the Living have set up here in commem- 
oration of the Dead. And most of these sepulchres 
are decked with wreaths and garlands and boquets, so 
much so, indeed, that in many respects you seem walk- 
ing through a beautiful rose-embowered Garden. I am 



308 Thuelow Weed's 

told that as long - as a member of a Family survives, the 
duty of decorating the graves of the departed is strictly 
observed. You see relatives, in the various parts of the 
grounds, some engaged in this affectionate duty, some 
reading 1 , some musing, and others weeping over those 
who have gone before them to their final abode. 

Among the first and most interesting Monuments 
here, is that of Abelaed and Heloise, in the form of a 
Chapel, constructed from the ruins of an Abbey founded 
by the former, and of which the latter was the first 
Abbess. Within this Chapel are statues of Abelard 
and Heloise. Near this tomb is that of Cuviee, the 
distinguished naturalist, and in this vicinity are the 
tombs of a great number of personages more or less 
eminent, among- whom are those of the Duchess de 
Fleuey, Delambee, the astronomer, Baron Denon, the 
traveler, and the Duke de Laval Montmorency. Then 
comes a collection of Tombs of persons more or less 
classical, among which are those of St. Pierre, author of 
Paul and Virginia, Fourcroy, the celebrated chemist, 
Gentry and Bellini, the composers, Madame Blanchard, 
who pexished in consequence of her Balloon taking fire, 
and finally, that of Talma, the great French Tragedian, 
whose monument is plain, with no other inscription than 
his name Near this spot is an ambitious column to 
the memory of Casimir Perier, with a statuary likeness 
of that statesman. Near this are the tombs of Marshal 
Lauriston and Col. Labedoyere, with whose gallant his- 
tory we are familiar. Farther along we come to the 
resting places of several of Napoleon's great men, 
among which I noticed those of Marshal Kellerman, 
Gen. Guvion St. Cyr, and Count Lavallette, the 



Letters from Europe. 309 

devoted affection of whose Wife, while the Count was 
in Prison, was worthy of such a husband. Here, too, 
one of the most beautiful and expensive Monuments 
within the Cemetery is erected to the memory of the 
Marquis de Delmatia, daughter-in-law of Marshal Soult. 
Passing the graves of Volney and others, you come to 
another cluster of Bonapartean Grenerals and States- 
men, among which are Marshal Surier, Marshal Da- 
voust, Marshal Lefevre, Gen. Paethod, Marshal Mas- 
sena, Gren. Dumuy, the Abbe Sicard Cambaceres, &c. 
Then come the Monuments of Manual, the Orator, Gtr- 
odet, the Painter, with a superb one for Gren. Foy. 
There is, as I should have expected, from the opinion 
I had formed of his character, a plain, modest tomb in 
commemoration of Benjamin Constant, near which is 
one equally unostentatious marking the spot where the 
remains of Marshal Ney repose. Then comes a tomb 
in Memory of the Marchioness de Beauharnois, mother 
of Madame Lavellette ; and then you approach the 
truly classical ground, for the tombs of Moliere, La 
Fontaine and La Place are before you. Then you 
encounter the tombs of distinguished or wealthy Eng- 
lish persons who have died in Paris, some of which are 
very imposing. But I will not detain you with details, 
which fail to convey any idea of Pere La Chaise. 
This Cemetery must be seen to be appreciated. 

The Russian Army, after the capitulation of Paris, in 
1815, was quartered in Pere La Chaise, and of course 
despoiled it of much of its rural beauty, though its mon- 
uments were respected. 

Near Pere La Chaise, in the Rue de Picpus (in the 
Chapel of what was once a Convent of the order of St. 



310 Thurlow Weed's 

Augustine, but is now a Boarding School), in a humble, 
sequestered spot, under a simple Tomb, hallowed by 
virtue and patriotism, by the side of his wife and sur- 
rounded by his children, repose the precious remains of 
our beloved La Fayette. "What a world of grateful 
recollections this name brings back 1 Where shall we 
look for another so bright, so pure, so unsullied 1 Who 
else lived so long, amid convulsions and revolutions, 
with unstained hands, uncontaminated principles and 
untarnished fame 1 Who else has resisted all the temp- 
tations of Ambition — all the seductions of Power? 
What Soldier, what Statesman, what other mere man, 
after sacrificing their fortunes and shedding their blood 
in the cause of human Liberty, steadily refused all hon- 
ors and rewards 1 None ! The name and character of 
La Fayette stand out upon the world's canvas, alone, 
in their own perfections and sublimity. Living, he won 
sceptres and diadems, but he would not wear them. 
Dead, with a consistency which jeweled his whole life, 
his remains were deposited in a humble, secluded vault, 
where no footsteps are heard but such as are guided 
thither by affection, patriotism and gratitude. 

My visits to the " Hospice des Enfans Trouves," or 
the Hospital for Infants abandoned by then- Parents, 
excited emotions far more painful than any I had 
experienced in Paris. This institution has existed for 
three hundred years. It is not as I supposed, devoted 
exclusively to the reception of Foundlings. Parents 
who are unable or unwilling to support then- offspring, 
are allowed to leave them here, accompanied by a 
declaration of abandonment made before an officer. 
Most of the Infants, however, are abandoned clandes- 



Letters from Europe. 311 

tinely. There is a Lodge at the gateway of the 
Hospital, through the wall of which a box is exposed 
to the public street. The persons depositing Infants in 
this box ring a bell, when a nurse, who is always wait- 
ing inside, turns the box on a pivot inwards, receives the 
helpless Foundling, and the guilty Parent goes away 
undiscovered. The number of Children thus unnat- 
urally abandoned, within the last ten years, is 44,243 ! 
From 1,000 to 1,500 of ihese Children were yearly sent 
from the Lying-in and other Hospitals, from Mothers 
who were unable to take care of them. There was, too, 
a diminished number in each of the ten succeeding 
years. In 1830 the number was 5,238, and in 1839, it 
was 3,182. Of this last number, 837, or nearly 1 in 
3' died during the year. The number of Children be- 
longing to the Institution, and placed out at nurse, in 
1839, was 15,719. Nurses come daily from the coun- 
try after Children, for taking care of each of whom 
they receive from 6 to 8 francs a month. There is not 
generally more than one hundred Infants in the Hos- 
pital. Of this number, when we visited it, ten had been 
received within the last twenty-four hours, and six of 
these were deposited in the box during the previous 
night. "We passed through the different Wards of the 
Hospital with a Nurse. More than half of these help- 
less innocents were ill ; and all but such as slept, were 
weeping in voices so feeble and plaintive that the most 
rugged nature could not restrain its tribute of tears. I 
never before saw, nor can I conceive of a scene so 
keenly touching as this. There can be no stronger 
appeal to our compassion than the forlorn condition of 
these poor Foundlings. They truly are the " shorn 



312 Thuklow Weed's 

lambs " for whom " God tempers the winds." Here, too, 
as in other Hospitals, we found the Sisters of Charity, 
true to their benevolent duties, kindly and patiently, by 
day and by night, receiving and protecting the most 
helpless of all the heirs of sin, destitution and misery. 



LETTERS 



FROM THE 



WEST INDIES 



1844-5. 



LETTERS 



"WEST INDIES 



SHIP CORNELIA, AT SEA, November 27, 1844. 

We left New York, as you know, on the 25th instant, 
with a cracking northwester, which stiffened during the 
afternoon, and gave us a fine offing. In looking around, 
when we were fairly outside, I found myself one of 
thirty passengers, all but seven of whom were seeking, 
in a milder climate, that boon without which life is 
bereft of its chief enjoyments. Those of us who were 
in health (a blessing too lightly appreciated until lost) 
accompanied invalid wives, husbands, sisters or daugh- 
ters. Separation from home and families, under such 
circumstances, awakens emotions peculiarly their own. 
We go abroad, when in high health, without realizing 
that we are liable to be struck down at any moment, 
and buoyant with the hopes of a reunion. But the 
patient goes, with hopes, to be sure, but hopes chilled 
by apprehensions, leaving friends at home to wear out 
weeks and months of painful suspense and solicitude. 



316 Thuklow Weed's 

Our ship, as you will imagine, was at best but a 
Marine Hospital. Only a few hours elapsed before she 
became such in the strongest sense of the term, for a 
rolling sea soon added its discomforts to the horrors of 
seated disease. From almost every State Eoom and 
Berth the inmates were heard unburthening their nau- 
seated stomachs. Steward, Stewardess and Waiters 
were in constant requisition. Every attention, however, 
was paid to them, and thus the situation of the sufferers 
rendered as tolerable as might be ; and after the first 
twenty-four hours, convalescents began to emerge, some 
with good appetites, and others to be driven back to 
panada, arrow-root and gruel. 

Our friend Doct. Van Alstyne, who came very ill 
and greatly exhausted, on board, has had two most dis- 
tressing days and nights. His symptoms are all alarm- 
ing, but he is stout-hearted, and says that if he can 
survive the voyage, he is sure that the climate of St. 
Croix will build him up. 

Friday, November 29th. 

The last twenty-four hours, a heavy, rolling sea, has 
given the ship (comparatively light) an uneasy motion, 
very painful to invalids. Doctor V. A. suffers most, 
and doubts whether he can reach his haven of hope. 
In anticipation of his decease, after asking me to take 
possession of his effects, he expressed a wish that his 
remains should be taken to St. Croix, instead of being 
cast, as is generally deemed necessary in tropical cli- 
mates, into the deep. Captain French, who came to 
his state room, assm*ed hira that his wishes, in this 
respect, should be faithfully carried out. With his mind 
at ease upon this subject, he very calmly explained the 



Letters from the "West Indies. 317 

course of treatment best calculated to sustain him 
through the voyage. But his cough increases while his 
strength fails. After crossing the Gulf Stream, where 
the weather is always " dirty," as the sailors describe 
it, we may look for a pleasant passage — so at least 
says the Captain, who knows these seas most familiarly, 
haviug been upon them most of his time these eighteen 
years. 

Sunday, December 1. 

Wind fair and fresh. Soft, balmy, refreshing atmos- 
phere. Passengers on deck enjoying their transition 
from the cold, piercing winds of our own climate to the 
gentle and healthful breathings of " the trades." What 
a phenomena, by the way, these " trade winds " are. 
How strange it is that while the oceans elsewhere are 
subject to the common laws of nature, here, for thou- 
sands of miles, the wind blows forever and ever from 
the same points. 

The Sabbath, alwa}^s a day of peculiar solemnity at 
sea, became, from several causes, eminently so with 
those on board the Cornelia to-day. Most of the pas- 
sengers are in a precarious state of health, and at least 
one of our number is rapidly approaching the end of 
the voyage of life. We assembled for Divine Service 
at 11 o'clock. The Rev. Mr. Clark, of Skaneateles, 
who, with his wife, accompanied by Mrs. Horton, of 
that village, are going to the Island of Jamaica, offici- 
ated. The Episcopal service was read impressively, 
and an appropriate sermon preached to a most attentive 
audience, made up of passengers, officers and crew. 
After the services were over, Doctor Van Alstyne 
expressed a strong desire to be carried on deck, that he 



318 Thurlow Weed's 

might gratify a long cherished desire to look upon the 
vast Ocean, but in making the attempt he was found to 
be so weak that it was thought prudent to remove him 
only to the door of the forward cabin, where he could 
inhale the fresh air. 

We have now been six days at sea, and have made 
over 900 miles progress, 170 of which were run the 
last 24 hours. Our ship is one of the largest that sails 
from New York, and with her canvas all spread, as it 
now is, she makes a lofty and noble appearance. 

Monday, December 2. 

what a sun rose this morning to cheer and ani- 
mate the Pilgrims of the deep ! And what a friendly, 
refreshing wind is wafting us (almost too rapidly) 
onward to our destination ! This day realizes all that 
the imagination has conceived of the deliciousness of a 
Southern Ocean and a tropical climate. It presents all 
the bright, without any of the dark features, in a beauti- 
ful picture of life. The Passengers were on deck early, 
drinking an atmosphere with " healing upon its wings." 
Its reviving and benign influences are apparent upon 
almost every patient. The ship, in full dress, has a 
majestic appearance, and glides almost noiselessly along 
at the rate of eight miles an hour. And the crew, for 
once having nothing to do, are at repose, some with 
books and others at their "yarns." Poor Dr. V. A. is 
fast sinking, though his mind is clear and his nerves 
strong. He continues to prescribe stimulants in the 
hope that they will prolong life until the ship arrives at 
St. Croix. 



Letters from the West Indies. 319 

6 o'clock, p. m. 

All is over with Doctor Van Alstyne ! He expired in 
possession of all his faculties, and without a struggle, 
having prescribed with a perfect knowledge of what 
was necessary to spin out the already attenuated 
thread of life, till within five minutes of the time that 
his last breath was drawn ! Such firmness, under 
circumstances so trying, has rarely been exhibited. 
But for the sufferings occasioned by the rough weather 
and high sea during the first three days out, it is thought 
he would have survived the voyage. His remains, to 
be preserved with salt, and inclosed in a coffin which 
the carpenter is making, will be taken to St. Croix. 
Dr. Marsh, of Chester, Pa., and the Rev. Mr. Clark, 
were constant iu their attentions to the deceased, as also 
was Capt. French, who in this, as in all other cases, 
manifested his kindness and generiosity. 

Wednesday, December 4. 

We are enjoying, in its highest perfection, the poetry 
of the ocean. We have a bright sun, whose genial heat 
is fanned by the more genial winds ; and an atmosphere 
too ethereal for earth. And oh ! how gorgeously the 
sun took its leave of us last night ! Its rays, gilding 
the clouds, enabled the imagination to fashion castles, 
battlements, columns, temples and chariots of surprising 
magnificence, out of ariel elements. How ardently I 
wished that the devoted friends whose loved forms I 
could almost distinguish in the clouds, were here to 
enjoy these delightful scenes. My friends Chancellor 
Whittlesey and Lt.-Gov. Gardiner, if they remember 
a sunset we witnessed on Lake Ontario, in returning 



320 Thurlow Weed's 

from a fishing excursion, can form a very faint idea of 
this magnificent view. 

I went again on deck late at night. Here was 
another view to awaken admiration. The mate walked 
the quarter-deck. The man at the wheel and two men 
looking out, were alone to he seen. All else were at their 
repose. The ship, trimmed so as to catch every breath 
of wind, and looking like a belle in full ball dress, liter- 
ally danced through the sparkling waters, whose gems 
were brilliantly reflected by a radiant moon. Those 
only who have seen a noble ship, with all her white, 
flowing canvas spread, and each sheet doing its share 
in driving her onward, with the broad heavens above, 
and the mighty waters beneath, can appreciate this beau- 
tifully sublime scene. I have rarely indeed passed an 
hour of more exquisite enjoyment. 

We have now come to know each other quite well, 
and are upon the best terms. The invalids, for the most 
part are patient sufferers. This virtue invests itself with 
a peculiar charm when displayed in sickness or in afflic- 
tion. Mrs. Kernochan and Mrs. Pierson, the wives of 
two most esteemed New York Merchants, who cherish 
but feeble hopes of recovering, have, by then- cheerful- 
ness and amiability, created a warm sympathy among- 
their fellow passengers. May a kind Providence 
restore them in health, to the Families and Friends to 
whom they must be very dear, and to circles which 
their virtues are so eminently calculated to adorn. 
Stephen Whitney. Jr., son of an esteemed and wealthy 
New Yorker, who is also in delicate health, is an intelli- 
gent traveler and agreeable companion. It is pleasant 



Letters from the "West Indies. 321 

to meet, as we too seldom do, in one of the heirs to an 
estate of millions, a quiet, unostentatious gentleman. 

The delightful weather of the last two days has 
brought all of us upon deck, the invalid portion having 
been placed upon their mattresses, where, under the 
shade of a grateful awning, they enjoy pure air, and are 
fanned by the genial winds, from immediately after 
breakfast until tea time, the waiter bringing their din- 
ners to them. This change is doing wonders for them. 
Harriet, who was very ill for seven days, and unable 
to take any nourishment, now listens attentively for the 
sound of the Steward's bell, and even talks of disputing 
my claim to the sole possession of the dish of baked 
Pork and Beans. 

Thursday, December 5. 

We came, as our Captain predicted last night, in sight 
of Land this morning. The Virgin Gorda, a compar- 
atively barren Island, appears to windward. We then 
entered the Sombrero Channel, and soon afterwards the 
Tortola Islands appeared in sight. These were suc- 
ceeded by a view of St. Johns, after passing which the 
far more important Island of St. Thomas lifted itself to 
view in the distance. We are now in the Caribbean 
Sea, an apochryphal Island of which Miss Porter has 
invested with all the charms that genius lends to imag- 
ination. So truthful and life-like is her Sir Edward 
Seaward' s Narrative, that many well informed readers, 
and even Reviewers, mistook it for veritable History. 
It is a delightful Book, in which interest, instruction and 
morality are most happily blended. Let me commend 
it to all who have not enjoyed the luxury which its 
pages afford. It has recently been republished by the 

41 



322 Thuelow Weed's 

Haepees, to whose teeming Press the intellectual 
community is so largely indebted. 

At 4 o'clock p. m., the men at mast-head descried 
the Island of St. Croix, and half an hour afterwards our 
Patmos was in full view from the deck. As we approach, 
its deep green verdure contrasts strangely with the leaf- 
less trees and frosted shores we left but ten days ago. 
So sudden a transition from a land of Snows and Ice to 
one of luxuriant Fruits and Foliage, seems like an 
exchange of Worlds. We all remained admiring this 
scene until the Steward summoned us to our last Din- 
ner on board the Coenelia. This repast, as like those 
which preceded it, was excellent and bountiful. Before 
rising from the Table, a Letter to Capt. Feench, of 
which the following is a copy, was very cheerfully 
signed by the Passengers : 

On Board Snip Cornelia, December 5, 1844. 
To Capt. French : 

Dear Sir — We cannot consent to leave your noble ship, at 
the termination of a voyage from New York to St. Croix, with- 
out tendering to you, and through you to your Lady and 
Officers, our grateful acknowledgments for the attentions and 
kindnesses which have rendered that voyage safe, pleasant 
and short — too short, indeed, for many of us, whose only regret 
is that we are so soon to separate. Nor are we willing that this 
should be regarded as a mere common-place acknowledgment, 
for your constant, unremitted and untiring watchfulness, first 
to your ship, and then to the numerous calls and wants of your 
passengers (most of them being invalids), entitles you to our 
unfeigned and heartfelt gratitude. 

Please to communicate an expression of our thanks to your 
Officers, and accept for yourself and Lady, assurances of our 
sincere regard. 

H. M. Pierson, W. J. "Wilcox, 

Laura Horton, William Hammond, 

Anna W. Scovel, L. Davis, 



Letters from the "West Indies. 323 

Jane Hammond, Louis Butteefield, 

Sarah E. Clark, John Steachan, 

Eliza Davis, Joseph Keenochan, 

Hakkiet A. "Weed, Thuelow Weed, 

M. E. Keenochan, Heney L. Pieeson, 

J. G. Geegoey, J. C. Dodge, 

Hiram Upson, J. H. Marsh, 

Joseph T. Claek, P. H. Cowen, 

Aechd3Ald Campbell, Angelo Ames, 

Stephen Whitney, Jr., Daniel Austin, 
A. P. Diets. 

At 8 o'clock we cast anchor in the "West End Har- 
bor, opposite the Danish Fort, and abreast the Town. 
I went ashore with Capt. French and the Letter Bag. 
We were received by Mr. Walker (son of our fellow- 
citizen, Mr. Willard Walker), who came over here 
seven years ago so ill as to forbid any hope of recovery, 
but who was almost miraculously restored. He is now 
the owner of a Plantation here, and the Agent of sev- 
eral non-resident Planters. Having secured pleasant 
lodgings with a very kind Hostess, I returned to the 
Ship for the night. 

Friday Morning. 

Before leaving the Cornelia, we had a solemn duty to 
perform. The necessary arrangements having been 
made by our Vice-Consul, Capt. Codwise, for the inter- 
ment of Dr. Van Alstyne, the remains were brought 
upon Deck, where, in the presence of the passengers and 
crew, the Funeral service of the Episcopal Church was 
read by the Rev. Mr. Clark. The remains were then 
taken ashore in a small Boat, preceded by another, with 
the Captain, Clergyman and Passengers. At the wharf 
they were received by the Rev. Mr. Mines, the resident 
Clergyman, the vice-Consul, and several citizens of St. 



324 Thurlow "Weed's 

Croix, and conveyed in procession to the Episcopal 
burying ground, where the Rev. Mr. Mines officiated in 
returning " dust to dust — ashes to ashes." 

The Cornelia leaves here for the Island of Jamaica, 
where she leaves the Rev. Mr. Clark and Family, and 
goes from thence to Mobile, to take in a cargo of Cotton 
for Liverpool. She has made three remarkably short 
passages from New York to this Island. The first was 
performed in nine, and the two last in ten days. She 
has accommodations for fifty Passengers. Capt. French 
and his Lady (who always accompanies him), are very 
excellent kind people, from whom invalids receive every 
possible attention. 

There are two regular Packets running between this 
Island and New York. The Ship Emily, Capt. Davis, 
owned, I believe, by Aymer & Co. of New York, and 
Mr. A. H. Hill, a highly esteemed citizen of this place, 
who is gratefully remembered for his kindness to Amer- 
icans sojourning upon the Island. The Brig Eliza, 
Capt. Lockwood, is owned by De Forest & Co., who 
are owners also of two valuable Plantations. These 
Vessels have good accommodations for Passengers, and 
Captains Davis and Lockwood are spoken of as excel- 
lent Officers. 

I will give you some notion of how things are going 
on in this out of the way portion of man's heritage in 
another Letter ; and close this by saying that there is 
good reason for supposing that the Sugar crop will be 
unusually large ; and that the Planters are very anxious 
for the "Repeal of the Tariff of 1842." 



Letters from the West Indies. 325 



II. 

ST. CROIX, W. I, December 24, 1844. 

I promised, in a former letter, to give you some account 
of men and things upon this Island. It is situated at 
the mouth of the Caribbean Sea, and was discovered by 
Columbus in 1493, then inhabited by Caribs, with 
whom his men had a skirmish. In 1625, when the 
English and Dutch took possession of it, they found it 
uninhabited. In 1649, the English expelled their Dutch 
auxiliaries, but in the following year the Spaniards from 
Porto Rico made a descent upon the island, burned the 
habitations, and massacred the soldiery and carried the 
survivors in captivity to Bermuda. In 1651, the Span- 
ish surrendered the island to the French, by whom its 
then native forests were burned and the soil rendered 
exceedingly fertile. In 1653, the French transferred the 
island to the Knights of Malta, by whom, in 1665, it was 
sold to a " West India Company " from France, whose 
charter was annulled by a Royal Edict in 1674, when 
it was again claimed as an appendage to the French 
crown. In 1696, the population consisted of some 500 
white inhabitants and about 700 blacks. In 1720, 
Santa Cruz was again uninhabited, the French, in con- 
sequence of frequent destructive droughts, having 
demolished their forts, abandoned their plantations and 
removed to St. Domingo. In 1727, the French captur- 
ing some English vessels lying in the harbor, again took 



326 Thuelow Weed's 

possession of the island, retaining it until 1733, when it 
was sold to the " Guinea Company," an association of 
Copenhagen merchants, for £30,750, and from them it 
was subsequently purchased by the King of Denmark, 
under whose auspices it was surveyed, in 1754, into 
plantations, each containing 150 acres. This subdivi- 
sion is for the most part preserved to the present day. 
In 1801, the island was taken by the English, but soon 
restored to Denmark. Again the English took it in 
1807, but again restored it to Denmark in 1815, by 
which Government, with the islands of St. Thomas and 
St. John, it is still held. 

Santa Cruz extends about 30 miles from east to west, 
and in breadth is from five to six miles. It was evi- 
dently created by one of those Volcanic efforts to which 
the laws of nature, in these latitudes, are subject. 
Eminences, high and bold, stretching from north to 
south, constituted the largest portion of its territory. 
Most of these, to their very summits, are in a high state 
of cultivation. These hills, which rise from 12 to 
1,400 feet above the level, frequently take the form of 
cones, and clothed, as they are, with deep verdure, pre- 
sent, when seen from shipboard, beautiful picturesque 
views. 

Christianstoed, or Barin End, is the principal town, 
and contains about 4,000 inhabitants. This is the resi- 
dence of the Governor. Frederickstoed, or "West End, 
contains about 3,000 inhabitants, and is the principal 
commercial town, and the residence of invalids, or such 
of those as do not retire to the Plantations. There is 
an old fort here, garrisoned by a subaltern officer with 
some thirty or forty of his Danish majesty's troops. 



Letters feom the West Indies. 327 

There are about 200 troops at Barin End. A Danish 
brig-of-war hovers about the Island. It is remarkable 
that the French, who were so long in the possession of 
this Island, should have left so few of their national 
memorials and land-marks upon it. Their language is 
almost unknown here. Nothing, indeed, remains, to 
indicate their footsteps, but the style of building. Nor 
is it less remarkable that the Danes, who have enjoyed 
almost uninterrupted possession of the Island for more 
than a century, should have failed to nationalize it. 
The Island is now essentially English in its language 
and habits. The natives, black and white, speak Eng- 
lish habitually. The negroes, after you become familiar 
with their drawling pronunciation, do less violence to 
Her Majesty's English than many of Victoria's own 
subjects, who reside upon the " fast-anchored Isle." 

I need not say that Santa Cruz is now a far less 
important Island, and that its Planters are far less pros- 
perous, than they were thirty or forty years ago. The 
Sugar competition of Porto Rico and the Brazils, to say 
nothing of the 10,000 to 20,000 hogsheads produced 
annually in Louisiana, has greatly crippled and impov- 
erished this Island. Indeed, but for the excellent and 
superior quality of Santa Cruz sugar, the Island must 
have been utterly ruined. The Planters have suffered, 
also, for several seasons for the want of rain. The quan- 
tity of Sugar made now, in good seasons, falls fifty per 
cent below that produced in the palmy days of the Island. 
In 1800 the Island produced 40,000 hogsheads of Sugar 
and 30,000 puncheons of rum. Since that time many 
Plantations have been abandoned, while others are con- 
solidated, so that this year, which promises an unusually 



328 Thurlow Weed's 

prolific growth of rich Cane, only 20,000 hogsheads of 
Sugar and some 14,000 puncheons of Rum, are the 
estimated product. 

One Planter, Mr. Adam Stevenson, has discovered 
that his " skimmings," instead of being distilled, may be 
converted in molasses. He showed Mr. Jas. H. Greg- 
ory and myself through his establishment. Every 
thing is conducted upon scientific principles, for the 
perfection of which he acknowledges his obligations to 
Professor Mapes, of New York. Mr. Stevenson was 
prompted to this enterprise originally from a desire to 
serve the Temperance cause, but found most unex- 
pectedly, that duty and interest combine to encourage 
the effort, for he not only gets the former value of his 
ruin, in his molasses, but a clean profit in the provender 
and manure which the molasses process furnishes. For 
every hogshead of sugar made, he gets an hundred gallons 
of molasses. The other Planters, I understand, for a long 
time regarded this scheme as impracticable ; but now 
that its utility has been fully vindicated, it is not unrea- 
sonable to expect that the example will be followed. 
Indeed several Planters would do so now but for the 
expense attending the change, which is considerable. 
Would that all Planters, not on the Island only, but in 
all Sugar countries, might see their interest in such a 
change. What an amount of misery would be pre- 
vented ! What a mass of suffering would be mitigated ! 
What an aggregation of vice and crime would be 
abated ! 



Letters from the "West Indies. 329 



III. 

ST. CROIX, W. L, Decembee.30, 1844. 

The Sugar Cane is just now ripening for the sickle, or 
rather, the early fields invite the sickle, for fields ripen 
in succession, so that the Sugar-making continues some 
four or five months from the middle of December, 
And the process of Harvesting and Planting goes on 
simultaneously. Fields adjoining those in which cane 
is growing, are broken up and prepared during the 
summer and fall, for Planting during the harvest season. 
The ground is raised in ridges resembling, somewhat, 
our celery beds. When the cane is ripe, its tops are 
first cut as feed for the cattle and mules. Then a piece 
of the cane, four or five inches in length, above that 
portion which contains the saccharine fluid, is cut and 
planted crossways in the furrow, and from this stalk 
the succeeding crop shoots up, or rather, the succeeding* 
crops, for three, four, and even five consecutive crops, 
in as many consecutive years, are taken from each 
planting. The cane itself is then cut, gathered in 
shocks, and carried upon mules' backs, to the mills. 

There are about 150 plantations upon the Island, 
several of which are owned by the King of Denmark, 
and most of the others by Scotchmen, Irishmen, Eng- 
lishmen, or Americans, who, from one cause or another, 
have incidentally found themselves Sugar Planters. 
The largest portion of the estates, I am told, fell into 

42 



330 Thtjelow Weed's 

the hands of the present owners in payment for moneys 
loaned upon them. We were accustomed, some twenty 
or thirty years ago, to see dashing West India Nabobs 
in our cities and at our watering-places, whose doub- 
loons were as plenty as our dollars. Such demonstra- 
tions, however, gave a most unreal impression of the 
wealth of these Islands. The Planters, or their sons, 
who were then gay as butterflies, had but the butterfly's 
brief existence. They were not spending merely the 
earnings of their estate, but improvidently loading 
those estates with debts which have since swallowed 
them up. The plantations were greatly diminished in 
value. Estates which, twenty years ago, paid an inter- 
est on from $150,000 to $200,000, have since been sold 
for $50,000 and $75,000. Benjamin De Forest & Co., 
of New York, are the owners of two plantations, one 
of which (Bethlehem) is among the most valuable and 
productive on the Island. 

Formerly coffee and cotton were, to some extent, 
cultivated here, but as the sugar crop yielded best, the 
attention of planters has been given wholly to the pro- 
duction of cane. It is said that a well managed estate, 
in a good season, will support its slaves from its rum 
and molasses, leaving its sugar as the net income of the 
proprietor. 

Slavery, as it exists here, has been stripped of many 
of its horrors. The Danish monarchs seem to have 
exerted a paternal care over the slaves. Nor have the 
Representatives of Majesty been remiss in carrying out 
these philanthropic instructions. And, from the oppor- 
tunities I have had to obtain information, it would be 
unjust to the planters themselves, not to admit that they 



Letters from the "West Indies. 331 

yield a cheerful obedience to the benevolent directions 
of the Government, by promoting, as far as possible, 
the welfare and happiness of their slaves. Those, 
therefore, who are, in the honeyed language of our 
Constitution, "held to service and labor" upon this 
Island, enjoy all the protection and privileges which are 
compatible with these "peculiar institutions." The 
present Governor, Van Scholton, who acts, it is said, 
under the particular auspices of the Queen, listens at- 
tentively to all complaints from slaves, and when such 
complaints are well founded, is sure to see them 
redressed. 

The hours of labor are fixed by a Royal edict. 
Work commences half an hour before sunrise, or rather 
the plantation bell rings at that time, so that the gangs 
may be mustered and ready for work at sunrise. From 
7 to 8 A. m. is given for breakfast, and from 12 M. to 2 
p. M. is allotted for dinner and repose. At sunset 
field labor ceases, but after that the slaves are required 
to take care of the mules, cattle, sheep, &c. Planters 
in the same manner are required to furnish each slave 
with two suits of clothes annually, consisting only, I 
believe, of a shirt and pantaloons for the males, and 
corresponding garments for females. They generally, 
however, get presents of woolen caps on New Year's 
days. Their allowance of food is fixed by law. Each 
slave is allowed sis quarts of corn meal, and a sufficient 
quantity of Danish herring per week. They are enti- 
tled also to their patches of garden ground, and what is 
more important, they are exempt from service on Sat- 
urday of each week, when portions of them work their 
own grounds, while others carry the products of these 



332 Thurlow Weed's 

grounds to market. In this way they furnish them- 
selves with some of the (to them) luxuries of life. 

Punishments, too, are in like manner regulated, as 
will be seen by an order issued by the Governor, 
dated 17th May, 1838 : "The chastisement with tama- 
rind whips or rods, on the bared body, is henceforth 
abolished on all estates, and the owners, administrators, 
or managers are authorized, in cases where corporeal 
chastisement may be necessary, to inflict with a tamp, 
and which tamp will be delivered from the police 
office for a reasonable payment. A male is only to be 
given twelve, and a female six stripes, the men across 
the shoulders, and the women as heretofore, but over 
two garments. The latter should rarely as possible 
receive this chastisement, on estates, oftener than twice 
in a week." This order further provides that solitary 
confinement on bread and water may be inflicted by 
owners, managers, &c. ; but when the offense is of a 
nature to require more exemplary punishment, the 
slave must be taken to the Police. No chastisement is 
permitted in the field, unless it becomes necessary to 
preserve order, and then not to exceed two lashes. 
Other punishment must be inflicted after breakfast in 
the presence of the whole gang, by the overseer, but 
under the eye of the owner, administrator, or manager. 

There is, also, a government regulation which ena- 
bles all slaves who, by their industry and frugality lay 
up money enough to purchase their freedom, to obtain 
this boon for a reasonable sum. If, in such cases, the 
slave deems the value fixed by the master too high, the 
authorities, upon the application of the slave, appoint 
two appraisers, by whose valuation the master is com- 



Letters from the West Indies. 333 

pelled to abide. But the interference of the authori- 
ties, I learn, is seldom invoked, owners generally being 
willing to encourage and stimulate efforts of this nature 
by fixing a fair and attainable price for self-ransom. 

But the last and most important, as well as most 
philanthropic interposition of the government for me- 
liorating the condition of the slave, is found in the 
order requiring the establishment of Schools through- 
out the island. The King has imposed a tax upon the 
planters of £20,000 annually, for the erection and 
support of school houses and schools, to which all 
children belonging to them are required to be sent 
from the fifth to the ninth year of their age. This 
secures four years' instruction to every child " held to 
service," &c, upon the island. A petition, signed by 
some of the planters, though opposed by a majority of 
them, asks the King to extend the term for attending 
schools another year, so that children may get five 
instead of four years' instruction. The teachers, many 
of whom are young men of color, receive $300 per 
annum. The school houses are large, airy, well lighted, 
and so located as to be easy of access to all the Plan- 
tations. Sunday schools, for adults as well as for 
children, have been established, and are well attended 
throughout the Island. The common schools have 
been in operation but three years. The measure of 
their usefulness, therefore, is not yet full ; but the 
wholesome fruits of Education are ripening. No one 
need be told that "the Schoolmaster is abroad" here. 
It is apparent in all you see of the slaves. Education, 
however limited and imperfect in degree and character, 
exerts its blessed influence upon human nature. Wher- 



334 Thurlow Weed's 

ever imparted, it creates, in the recipient, a new exist- 
ence. We but half live without Education. Rational 
existence commences with the development of the 
intellectual faculties, and the pathway of life is light 
and cheerful, or dark and dreary, as those faculties are 
improved or neglected. 

The Planters derive benefits beyond the conscious- 
ness of having contributed to the intellectual improve- 
ment of an unfortunate race, in the character and 
habits of their slaves. The good effects of the Day 
and Sunday schools are felt in various ways. There 
are but few human beings upon whom generosity and 
kindness are lost. These slaves appreciate then- privi- 
leges, and manifest then gratitude by their general 
good conduct, and by their diligence and alacrity in 
the field. The Planters are gainers rather than losers 
by all that has been done to ease the burthen of the 
slaves. They find that an intellectual being is worth 
more, in every sense, than the mere animal. Their 
usefulness increases with then knowledge. And all 
this is so apparent that the Planters, though their 
school tax, added to other burdens, is onerous, pay it 
cheerfully. 



Letters from the West Indies 335 



IV. 

ST. CROIX, W. I, January 6, 1845. 

This island is governed with comparatively little ex- 
pense to Denmark. His Danish Majesty either has 
few favorites or dependents to be provided with sine- 
cure places, or he supports them at home. There are 
no officers here but such as have duties to perform. 
Things, therefore, are conducted upon a far less mag- 
nificent scale than in the British Islands, where John 
Bull's line of steamers cost, over all they receive from 
freight, letters, and passengers, twice as much as is 
required for the support of our State Government. 
But in this England has an important ulterior object. 
In future wars, should the war spirit unfortunately 
revive, steam is to become a fearfully potent character. 
And in such an emergency her " Mail Packets" are 
readily convertible into steam ships of war. 

The civil department of St. Croix consists of a 
Governor, Judges of a lower and upper court, two 
police magistrates, King's advocate, with a sort of leg- 
islative body styled Burgesses, recorder, clerks, &c. 
Several of the subordinate offices are held by the same 
individuals. There is also a " Reconciling Court," 
before which litigants must submit their matters in 
difference before any legal process can issue. The 
Governor receives a salary of $15,000, or 22,000 
"pieces of eight." The Judges of the upper court 



336 Thuelow Weed's 

receive salaries of 83,000, and those of the lower court 
(who are, I believe, also the police magistrates) 82,500, 
with fees. Legal proceedings are had in the Danish 
language. Pleadings are in all cases written, no verbal 
arguments of counsel being allowed. The "Reconcil- 
ing Court " is an institution that might be most usefully 
imitated in larger communities. It would save a vast 
amount of money thrown away in vexatious litigation. 
It is an Equitable Tribunal without the expense and 
delays incident to our courts of chancery. 

There is a custom house here and one at Balm End, 
the duties of which are discharged by a collector, 
comptroller, and inspector, at an expense to the Gov- 
ernment -of about 810,000 per annum. 

Sugar, ruin, molasses, &c, pay a high duty. The 
planters and other white inhabitants are taxed, first for 
the support of the Royal Government, and then for 
local purposes. There is a " King's Chest " and a 
" Land Chest " for the separate keeping of these respect- 
ive revenues. Into the " King's Chest " go the export 
and import duties, the absentee tax (which bears 
heavily on planters who are absent more than six 
months in the year), and the capitation tax of 81 on 
each male slave. This last exaction was to have been 
released, as in some sort an equivalent to the planters 
for giving up their right to the service of the slaves on 
Saturdays, but it has, for the last year or two, been 
again imposed. 

Into the " Land Chest " go the School Tax and such 
other taxes as are required for the improvement of 
Roads and the general Municipal support and regula- 
tion of the Island. These Taxes burthen the Planters 



Letters from the "West Indies. 337 

more heavily than, before inquiry, I had supposed. 
What seemed, at first view, to be a cheap Government, 
proves to be a very expensive one to the Planters. 
Every hundred pounds of Sugar, if valued here at $3 
per hundred, pays sixty cents export duty to the King. 
An absentee Planter, whose estate gives $10,000 gross 
income, pays $600 to the King. This sum frequently 
exceeds the amount of the net income of an estate. 
The Planters complain of some of these exactions, and 
are petitioning the King for exemptions, but with no 
sanguine hope of success. 

All, or nearly all, the Sugar, Rum, and Molasses of 
St. Croix finds a market either in Denmark or America 
— the largest half, however, goes to America. There 
are eight or nine Danish Vessels engaged constantly in 
this trade. They seldom, however, make more than 
one voyage in a year. Six of these vessels lay off this 
place now, awaiting cargoes. The two which arrived 
last had remarkably quick passages from Copenhagen, 
one (the Alert) coming in 34 days, and the other (the 
Triton) in 31 days. The distance is more than 6,000 
miles, so that the Triton ran over 200 miles every 24 
hours of her passage. The Danish Ships bring from 
Copenhagen such articles as are required for this Mar- 
ket. The Captains, who are either Overseers or Con- 
signees, land their Cargoes, open a Store, and sell off at 
retail, taking their pay in Sugar, Rum, &c, thus pur- 
chasing with the articles they bring out their return 
Cargo. This consumes four, five, and sometimes six 
months. The Captains of these vessels are intelligent, 
gentlemanly, and agreeable. One of the Vessels (the 
Joanna Maria) has been thirty years in this trade, and 

43 



338 Thurlow "Weed's 

though more than an hundred years old, is sound and 
seaworthy yet. She was built in the East Indies of 
teak wood. In repairing her a few years ago her iron 
spikes were found defective, but the woodwork was 
sound. Capt. Runners, who is now here with his Ves- 
sel, has been forty years in this trade. His Son, who 
commands another Vessel anchored by the side of his 
Father's Brig, tells me that he was off New York in 
company with the Mexico, whose disastrous wreck on 
Rockaway beach will long be remembered. He had 
been 100 days at Sea, and for twenty days short of 
water and without food. He was blown out to Sea the 
night the Mexico went ashore, and thirty days after- 
wards, in approaching the Coast again, in great distress, 
and almost in despair, he was as unexpectedly as sea- 
sonably boarded by the " Relief Boat," and his wants 
abundantly supplied. He speaks yet with lively grati- 
tude of that truly charitable visitation, but for which 
the chances of getting his Vessel into Port were fear- 
fully against him. The ill winds, however, blew to his 
pecuniary advantage, for the moment he arrived his 
Consignees (Messrs. Grinnell, Minturn & Co.) in- 
formed him that his Cargo of Rye was then worth one 
dollar and seventy cents a bushel, which, in conse- 
quence of the seventy of the winter, was nearly double 
the price he would have received had not his passage 
been, for the same reason, thus protracted. This Ves- 
sel (the Edward) had thirty days of distress and peril 
in consequence of our then defective Pilot System. 
She arrived off the Highlands of Neversink, and lay 
all day waiting for a Pilot, but none came, and at night 
a gale arose, in which one Vessel (the Mexico) was 



Letters feom the West Indies. 339 

wrecked, and his, with several others, were driven out 
to Sea in distress, merely because our laws protected 
an insufficient number of Pilots against competition. 
But that dreadful night aroused a feeling which, though 
our own Legislature was deaf to the appeals of human- 
ity, induced Congress to pass a law authorizing New 
Jersey Pilots to bring Vessels into the harbor of New 
York. 

With the bark Triton came Mr. Scowsboe, the prin- 
cipal Danish merchant, who is an exceedingly pleasant 
gentleman, and whose yearly arrival is looked for with 
the more interest, as he brings with him the most fash- 
ionable goods. Two days after his arrival, when his 
treasury had been hastily shelved, his store was graced 
by all the fashion and beauty of the island. Several 
coaches (two or three of them with servants in livery), 
with numerous jaunty wagons, cabriolets, and gigs, 
stood before the door. The ladies, after delighting the 
eye with a view of all the novelties, fell to purchasing 
with an avidity which would have thrown a Broadway 
fancy dry goods man into ecstasies. Dresses, shawls, 
parasols, gloves, bonnets, ribbons, capes, laces, &c, &c, 
were ordered in rapid succession. Nor, while the ladies 
selected then New Year's wardrobe and toilette, were 
the gentlemen idle. They found " metal more attract- 
ive" on the other side of the store, where Flansbtuy 
hams, Danish cheese, Copenhagen cherry cordial, 
champagne, &c, &c, were invitingly displayed. On 
the following day came the ladies of color (ranging in 
degree from the lightest to the darkest shades, and 
including creole, mustee, mulatto, and African, with 
numerous crosses) to make their small but flashy pur- 



340 Thuelow Weed's 

chases of calico, apron, turban, &c, in which their 
copper colored or ebony charms were to be set off to 
the best advantage for the holidays. And now, the 
silks, cashmeres, muslin-de-laines, balzorines, &c, &c, 
having for the most part disappeared, the scene changes, 
and the knight of the scissors and yard stick is busied 
in ministering to grosser wants in the sale of his oats, 
peas, herring, ling-fish, Bologna sausages, &c. 

From the United States the ship Emily and brig 
Eliza, of New York, and the brig Rosalie, of Philadel- 
phia, are regular traders here. The two former make 
five or six voyages annually. There are two small 
Packets running between this place and St. Thomas, 
some forty miles distant. There is an occasional 
schooner from Norfolk, Savannah, or Wilmington, 
N. C, with Turpentine and Staves ; with now and 
then an arrival from some of the Eastern ports with 
" Notions." A Spanish schooner drops in three or four 
times a year with mules or cattle from South America. 
The Cornelia comes in December with Invalids. And 
this, I believe, comprehends the " Marine List" of 
Santa Cruz. 

The Danish man-of-war Brig that vibrates between 
the two Ports upon this Island was ordered to St. 
John's a few days since, in consequence of a rumor 
that the slaves of that Island contemplated a revolt, 
with a view to their emancipation in crossing over to 
the neighboring Island of Tortola, by setting foot on 
which they became Feeemen ! God bless England for 
this boon to the much wronged African race. It is an 
atonement for many National sins. When are we to 
commence the work of expiation 1 Coetez, who con- 



Letters from the West Indies. 341 

quered and enslaved Mexico, expressed serious doubts, 
in his will, whether man could rightfully hold his fel- 
low man as property, and charged Ms Sons to endeavor 
to obtain a solution of the question. If the conscience 
of Hernando Cortez was disquieted by the question 
of Slavery in the 16th century, may we not look to 
the civilization and philanthropy of society, after three 
hundred years of progress, for its abolition 1 

The Hon. Mr. Hall, our Tylerized Charge d' Affaires 
at Venezuela, passed a week here, with his Family, on 
their way home to Nashville. Mr. H. was one of that 
indomitable band of "Whigs who, with the late Judge 
White as then- leader, carried Tennessee against Gen. 
Jackson's protege. He was efficient, too, in the great 
struggle of 1840, when, though our triumph was signal 
arid complete, its fruits, so far as the Executive was 
concerned, were lost by Treachery. But a glorious 
Whig Congress, in the passage of the Tariff of 1842, 
secured a season of prosperity to the People and the 
Country. And the Traitor, who is about to close a 
perfidious career, has his reward, in hatred as universal 
and scorn as deep-rooted as that which perpetuates the 
infamy of Benedict Arnold. 

I perceive with regret that Mr. Wilson Shannon has 
brought dishonor upon American Diplomacy in his 
correspondence with the Mexican Government. It was 
bad enough to have the wrong side of the question, 
and still more to see ourselves disgraced by such an 
exhibition of bad temper and ill manners. Mr. Cal- 
houn's Letter to Mr. King is even more mortifying, as 
being intended for the second court in Europe. It 
must bring us into deeper and more universal reproach. 



342 Thuklow Weed's 

Slavery surely cannot be sustained much longer at 
such enormous sacrifices of national chai'acter. The 
repeal, or abrogation, by Congress, of the obnoxious 
21st Rule, affords a gleam of light — a ray of hope. 
This reversed action of the same House of Represent- 
atives that allowed its first session to be trammeled by 
this Rule, " casts its shadows before" coming events. 

Abolition Newspapers and Abolition Conventions, I 
see, begin to clamor for Remonstrances against the 
Annexation of Texas. Truth is indeed sometimes 
stranger than fiction. But for the influence and action 
of these same Abolition Newspapers and Conventions, 
there would have been neither danger nor possibility 
of this extension of the Territory and augmentation of 
the power of Slavery. They first, by their political 
organization, secure the election of a President who 
was designated expressly and solely to annex Texas to 
the Union, and then remonstrate against a wrong which 
could not have been perpetrated without their consent and 
co-operation ! And such has been the fatuity of Aboli- 
tion, in its political efforts, for the last ten years, by 
electing members of Congress avowedly and noto- 
riously opposed to Emancipation, and then sending 
Petitions for the Abolition of Slavery to Representa- 
tives committed and pledged against the object of the 
Petitioners ! But the result of the late Presidential 
Election, however disastrous in other respects, will 
open the eyes of the People to the reckless designs and 
fatal tendencies of ultra Abolitionists. The 15,000 
votes which were worse than squandered in New York, 
to say nothing of the other thousands thrown away in 
Massachusetts, Ohio, Michigan, &c, have not only 



Letters from the West Indies. 343 

made shipwreck of every other public . interest, but 
threaten to extend the links and strengthen the chains 
of Slavery ! This, though at too great cost, will cure 
the evil. Birneyisrn will not again have power, by 
casting its weight into the scale of Slavery, to make 
Freedom kick the beam. In the mean time, though 
Abolition Demagogues have run their race, the cause 
of Emancipation will be onward. The Whig Party, 
as philanthropic as patriotic, will steadily pursue its 
enlightened policy, until measures designed and calcu- 
lated to secure the elevation and prosperity of those 
who are free, and the ransom and happiness of all who 
are held in bondage, throughout the Union, have been 
carried into full and triumphant effect. 



344 Thuelow "Weed's 



V. 



ST. CROIX, W. I, January 1, 1845. 

The transition from the Old to the New Yeae is 
eminently a season for reflection, and prominently so 
with those who are separated from Family, Friends and 
Country. The links in friendship's chain are bright- 
ened by absence. "Distance " not only "lends enchant- 
ment to the view," but stirs and quickens the emotions 
of the heart. Memory charges itself with the grateful 
duty of calling up half-forgotten kindnesses and bene- 
factions. Here, upon a mere speck of land, encircled 
by seas which separate us from the busy world, a re- 
view of the last thirty years overwhelms me with a 
deep sense of obligation. Few persons so humble and 
undeserving, have such manifold reasons, first to God, 
and then to fast, devoted Friends, for heartfelt offerings 
of gratitude. It is common — too common, as I can- 
not but believe — to deride and depreciate Friendship 
as a " name for man's illusion given." Such certainly 
has not been my experience. On the contrary, it has 
been my good fortune to find friends whose fidelity, like 
"hooks of steel," remains unbent and unbroken. It 
would be truly delightful to remember how much of the 
world's good we have enjoyed, if the reflection was not 
rebuked by a consciousness of how little of that good 
we have conferred upon others. If we had always 
acted upon Dr. Feanklin's golden rule of "letting good 
offices go round," of bestowing the favors we have re- 
ceived upon our neighbors, the burthen of obligation 



Letters from the West Indies. 345 

would be lightened. But in opening such an account 
I should find a fearful balance against me. So, like 
other debtors, whose present means are insufficient to 
liquidate the claims against them, I can only "promise 
to pay " hereafter. In the meantime, to my friends and 
patrons of the Evening Journal, though my greeting 
will be long in reaching them, I tender the congratula- 
tions of the season, with the warmest and heartiest 
wishes for then continued prosperity and enduring 
happiness. 

The New Year anniversaries which, in joyous suc- 
cession, have been celebrated at Albany, come back to 
me here, consecrated by a thousand endearing recollec- 
tions. I see, in imagination, friends and acquaintances, 
with elastic step and beaming eyes, exchanging con- 
gratulations through every street of our ancient metro- 
polis. I can see, too, the open door, the bountifully 
loaded board, and the cordial welcome that awaits each 
visitor in his cheerful rounds. I can imagine also the 
deep snow and merry bells, or at least the icy streets 
and piercing winds of a Northern winter. But those 
of you who have not hailed a New Year in a tropical 
climate, can form no idea of what is passing here. The 
fields are clothed in verdure. The trees are loaded 
with fruit. The rays of a sun as intensely hot as those 
we encounter in July or August, are shining upon us. 
We sit with open doors and windows to catch every 
breath that stirs. 

The New Year is celebrated here, too, not by the 
Planters, but by their slaves, and after their own fash- 
ion, which is rude and primitive. The Holidays of the 
slaves commence with Christmas, and although the law 

44 



346 Thuelow Weed's 

gives them that and the following day, they contrive, in 
imitation of our Congress, to do very little work 
between Christmas and New Year. And on these occa- 
sions the slave's cup of enjoyment fills to the brim. For 
several weeks preceding Christmas they are busied with 
preparations for their festivities. Indeed their toil 
through the whole year is cheered by their anticipation 
of holiday happiness. For these festivities, all there 
is of turban, calico, ribbon, gewgaw and trinket, among 
them, is reserved to adorn their persons. Daxckg is 
then- only festive resource. The slaves on each estate 
elect then Queen and Princess, with then King and 
Prince, whose authority is supreme. These have then 
Maids of Honor, Pages, &c, &c. A Queen retains her 
rank until by age or otherwise she voluntarily retires 
as Dowager. The instrument which, on these occasions, 
"discourses most eloquent music," is a large keg or half 
barrel, over the head of which a goat skin is drawn, 
and upon which a negro beats with his hands, as proud- 
ly and triumphantly as Ole Bull draws his cat gut. The 
Dance is opened by the King and Queen. The Prima 
Donna sings ballads, while the whole gang unite in the 
chorus, to which the Drums furnish a very base, but 
truly appropriate accompaniment. When the Royal 
pair are exhausted, they introduce the Prince and Prin- 
cess, who in turn call up those of inferior rank. The 
Dance opens with much gravity, but in its progress 
Dancers and Singers warm into enthusiasm. The voice 
of the Prima Donna rises; the chorus swells; the 
drummer turns up the white of his eyes and displays 
his ivory ; the Queen swoons ; is supported by maids 
of honor, who sprinkle "Bay Rum" and ply then fans 



Letters from the West Indies. 347 

until she recovers, and joins in the Dance with renewed 
energy. And thus the revelers consume the day and 
night. Not more than a dozen of a gang of sixty, 
seventy or eighty, participate in the Dance, the remain- 
der seeming to find equal enjoyment by straining their 
lungs and cracking their voices in the Orchestra. To- 
wards the close of the festivities, however, all join in 
the Dance, all, at the same time, singing most vocifer- 
ously. Flags, held by the maids of honor, are waving 
over the heads of the Queens during the Dance. 

The first privilege (or duty as they esteem it) of the 
slaves, on Christmas and New Year's days, is to pay 
their respects, in a body, to their master, before whom 
they Dance for an hour or more, paying tribute, in 
their songs, to his liberality, generosity, &c, after which 
they are regaled with cakes, cordial, &c, and generally 
receive presents from then* mistress. They then return 
to their own domicils to pass the day and night in 
festivities. In the Town the Free Colored People and 
House Slaves form their parties, elect their Kings, 
Queens, &c, and Dance in like manner. We went the 
rounds, among them, and were generally received by 
some complimentary line thrown, impromptu, into their 
songs. I do not know whether the minstrelsy of these 
simple people is worth copying, but I will venture to 
transcribe a few specimens. The following "Toast," 
as it was styled, the effort of a " Lady Dowager," was 
regarded as peculiarly felicitous : 

" Any one that feel themselves insulted they must call to the girls of the 
garden — the garden girls — they are the most enchanting girls — they do 
not fear the lions in the wood — 

Bravo the ladies of the garden, 

Bravo, the ladies of the garden, 



348 Thurlow "Weed's 

The garden ladies — they are the most enchanting ladies ; 
They have no fear — they will brave any ship of war. 

If any are incapable of seeking satisfaction, they must call to the girls 
of the garden. Hurra ! hurra ! hurra ! — Gentlemen we don't fear the lions 
in the wood. 

Cliorus — Bravo! bravo! &c. 

Here's a health to all that is around us, not forgetting our most gracious 
Majesty, King Christian, reigning over us. God bless our most noble King. 
Chorus — Bravo! bravo! &c. 
Here's a health to all the Americans, and long may they Reign Independ- 
ent of all nations, in love and security to themselves. 
Chorus — Bravo! bravo! &c. 
Here is a health to Queen Victoria, the Ruler of Great Britain, who 
liberty proclaimed to the slaves. 

Chorus — -Bravo! bravo! &c." 

Here are the words of another song, but I cannot 
render them into either verse or Blank verse : 

" Chain the dogs — let the first rate pass — all the Danish gents, and also the 
Yankees, for they is just like the Otto of Roses — they is lately from Europe 
and America — just come for the warm climate, with their nice gaiter boots 
on and neat cane in their hand, and first rate castors on their head — let 
them pass for to see the bounding girls, for they are great, like the roses 
when they are blooming. 

Chorus — Chain the dogs — let the white men pass." 

The following has reference to a movement making 
to abolish slavery in the island : 

" All we girls must keep heads together ; King Christian have sent to free us 
all ; Governor Sholton had a vote for us ; King Christian have sent to grant 
us all ; we all have signed for independence ; we all have signed for liberty ; 
our Crown Prince had a vote in it ; our Gracious Queen had the highest 
vote ; King Christian have sent to say he will crown us alL 

Oh, yes! oh, yes! hurra! hurra! 

All we girls must keep head together." 

One of the Queens, in her desire to appear in queen- 
ly attire, for the Holidays, was prompted to misapply 
money belonging to her master, for which she was sent 
to the fort, and instead of enjoying the highest felicity 
as a mimic Queeu, her fallen majesty is now with a 



Letters feom the West Indies. 349 

gang of culprits at work upon the streets! This 
circumstance was lamented in a song by her subjects: 

" Oh yes, oh yes, do buy her for her freedom ; do buy Queen Slater, our 
dear Lady Coahly ; we are sorry, we are sorry to tell you Queen Slater in 
the King's fort ; we went to the fort gate to ask our Queen if she sorry for 
what she done, and said, oh yes, ob yes ; we send our Lady Dowager to beg 
for Queen Slater ; our Emperor he will sign much money to buy our Queen 
Slater freedom. 

Oh yes, oh yes, do buy her for her freedom." 

The following is a much admired effort : 

"Hurra, hurra, hurra, my Rooky Queen — 
Hurra my Sholay Queen — she do not spare no cost. 
We wear the best shaleys — we sport the best de lanes 
We wear the best muslins — we do not spare no cost. 

Hurra, hurra, hurra, hurra! 
Here is our Queen — she wears the best of linen — 
She sports the best of Cambric and dosen't mind the cost. 

Hurra, hurra, hurra, hurra! 
Our gents smoke the best segars — they sport the Otto of Roses, 
For they have pockets full of doubloons. 

Hurra, hurra, hurra, hurra ! 
Where is my Lady Dowager ? she cannot be seen, 
She is in her easy arm chair writing to her Emperor. 

Hurra, hurra, hurra, hurra! 
Where is the garden girls ? they cannot be seen, 
For they have gone to Bredow's Winder to meet the great heads. 

Hurra, hurra, hurra, hurra! 

The following was sung with great spirit by a fine 
looking gang of slaves, owned by our friend Walker, 
as they came into town from the " Wheel of Fortune " 
estate, on New Year's morning. It is aimed at an un- 
popular "Manager" who had been displaced: 

Come along! come along! 'Betty's Hope 'girls — 

Oh come along ' Betty's Hope ' girls — 

You could not buy Wheel of Fortune. 

DrrsLOP sell all de Guinea bird — -he sell all de sugar apple, 

But he could not buy ' Wheel of Fortune,' 

Come along ! come along ! 
I hope you knew DtruLOP don't rule ' Wheel of Fortune,' 
Run and call Massa Walker to drive out ' Betty's Hope ' gang. 

Come along! come along! 



350 Thuelow Weed's 

Wheel of Fortune ' niggers don't want no Mulatto mistress, 
For now they have their first rate Massa Walker. 

Come alone ! come along ! 
Massa Walker give them the best Madrass, 
Good brown and bamboo — and care dem well. 

Come along! come along! 
Massa Walker, Dunlop mark up ' Wheel of Fortune, 
He rake down de rum cellar, he scrape out de curing house, 
He pick all de peases ; but he could not buy ' Wheel of Fortune.' 

Come along ! come along ! 
Eliza Clarke, she went to the curing house, where she tried de 

same; 
She tried to bring down de cattle — den she tried de mule pen, 
But she could not buy ' Wheel of Fortune.' 

Come along ! come along ! 
Run and call Massa Walker to kick ' Betty's Hope ' gang out de 

great house, 
And drive the Mulattoes off de ' Wheel of Fortune.' 

Come along ! come along ! 
Dunlop sell all de potatoes — he sell all de Guinea grass, 
But he couldn't raise de cash like Massa Walker, 
To buy 'Wheel of Fortune.' 

Come along ! come along I" 



Letters from the "West Indies. 351 



VI. 

SANTA CRUZ, W. I, January 10, 1845. 

"We have now been six weeks in Santa Cruz, without 
experiencing either the lassitude or the weariness of 
which most -visitors complain. The weather has not 
been inconveniently hot, though the Thermometer has 
ranged from 78 to 81. The rains, though frequent, 
come in showers which are immediately succeeded by 
a warm sun, that soon dries both the atmosphere and the 
roads. Indeed that bright luminary is seldom obscured. 
Clouds frequently distil their waters without coming 
in contact with the Sun. An "Artful Dodger" may 
elude showers by riding or walking away from the 
clouds which are charged with rain. This is, however, 
a "rainy season," much to the joy of the Planters, who 
have suffered for several years from drought. 

The Colored inhabitants of the Island, whether bond 
or free, are a quiet, civil, inoffensive people. They re- 
gard the Whites as a superior and protecting race. 
Then deportment is uniformly respectful. In walking 
or riding, the adults salute you with a good morning or 
good evening "Massa" or "Missus," while the children 
display the good manners of those in America that you 
pass around the door of a well-conducted District 
School. The Slaves upon the Estates are always 
ready to furnish you with Fruit, Flowers, Shells, &c, 
and seem equally satisfied whether you reward them 



352 Thuelow Weed's 

with a "stiver" or a "thank you." A man who left his 
work to assist me in patching up an old harness which 
gave out one day, seemed amazed when I handed him 
an "old bit" (seven cents), which happened to be the 
smallest change at hand. A single stiver, or a civil 
acknowledgment of his kindness, was all that was 
expected. 

There is very little dissension or wrangling among 
the blacks. And although Rum is made here in great 
quantities, very little of it is drank. Even during the 
Holidays, when it is given freely, I saw but two drunken 
N egroes, and but few who were excited by drink. There 
are half-a-dozen idle worthless fellows about the Docks, 
but theh vagabond habits were acquired abroad, while 
on board Vessels as sailors, Stewards, Cooks, &c. 

The Free blacks, in the heat of the day, draw togeth- 
er under the shade of a Tamarind or Cocoanut tree, 
and listen with keen interest to some Sir Oracle among 
them, who relates to the astonished natives the wonders 
he has seen upon the Spanish Main, at Havana, in New 
York, &c, &c. I am admitted to these coteries, and 
have regretted that Rice or Winchell could not finish 
then- Negro education in some such school. 

"We visit the Negro Market with much interest on 
Saturdays. It is a strange scene. The market Place 
is eligibly situated upon a square, where the Female 
Slaves exhibit Poultry, Eggs, Vegetables, Fruit, Meal, 
Herring, &c, &c, spread out upon the ground under 
small Tamarind trees. Here also is a Fish and Meat 
Market. The Slaves save the meal and herring from 
then- rations. The vegetables and fruits are the product 



Letters from the West Indies. 353 

of their grounds. Most of the meal used by the towns- 
people is purchased from the Slaves, Among the veg- 
etables are Sweet Potatoes, Banannas, Yams, Beans, 
Tomatoes (inferior), Beets, Cabbages, Onions, &c. Of 
Fruits, there are Oranges, Pineapples, Lemons, Limes, 
Cocoanuts, Peanuts, Alligator Pears, Bell Apples, Man- 
goes, Sapadillas, Grenadillas, Sour-Sop, &c, &c. The 
Fruit is sold very cheap. We get two dozen large, 
delicious Oranges for five stivers or seven cents. Cocoa- 
nuts are sold equally cheap. The Cocoanut, by cutting 
open one end of it gives a large glass full of clear, cool, 
pure and wholesome water, which many drink at break- 
fast in preference to coffee or tea. Most of the Fruits 
are insipidly sweet, and although we hear much of then' 
excellence, they are not to be compared for a moment 
with those we enjoy at home. All that the West Indies 
can boast of, in the way of Fruits, would be dearly 
purchased by the sacrifice either of our Peaches, Straw- 
berries, Plums or Cherries. We have been favored by 
some friends with some clusters of very large, fine 
Muscatelle Grapes, but they are only produced by the 
Planters in their Gardens. 

The Market is a scene of much animation from 
twelve till three o'clock. The colored women, to the 
number of two or three hundred, bring their products 
to market in Trays upon their heads, from the different 
Plantations, the most distant of which are from six to 
seven miles. While the women are thus occupied, on 
Saturday, the men are at work either upon their own 
grounds, or for then- Masters, receiving four " Old Bits," 
or twenty-eight cents — and frequently a larger sum — 
for their day's work. The Negroes do a great, deal of 

45 



354 Thuklow "Weed's 

"head work," but their efforts in this way are physical 
rather than intellectual. With them the head does the 
work of hands. The Milk is brought to town in large 
cans by the women on their heads. Wood and Grass, 
for fuel and horse-feed, are brought in bundles by Ne- 
groes upon their heads. Evenings, from seven till 
eight, Negroes are pouring in from the Plantations, 
with bundles of scraggy sticks for which they get five 
stivers, and of grass for which they get from 10 to 15 
stivers. You will infer from the mode of supplying a 
population of over 3,000 with wood, that very little 
fuel is required here. This is so true that I verily belie ve 
twenty-five cords of sound Hickory would supply 
Santa Cruz with fuel for an entire year. 

The Meats of the Island are seldom good and always 
dear. Beef, lean and tough, costs 20 cents a pound. 
Veal and mutton is also much inferior to ours, and 
costs twice as much. Nor is their Poultry by any 
means equal to ours. Their Turkeys, Ducks, Chickens, 
&c, are seldom fat, and never tender. Meat, if to be 
eaten fresh, must be served for dinner on the clay the 
creatures go to the shambles. But the inferior quality 
of Santa Cruz meat is no serious privation for two 
reasons : first, because animal food is neither necessary 
nor healthful here ; and second, because the Caribbean 
Sea furnishes, in great variety and abundance, very 
excellent fish. These fish are as brilliant in colors as 
delicious in flavor. The fishermen, directly abreast of 
the town, lay on their oars, until schools of small fish 
are driven to the surface to escape the maws of the 
cormorants of their species, when the boat dashes off 
and encircles the spot with the net, which when drawn 



Letters from the West Indies. 355 

ashore, reeks with victims that in their agony, display 
all the beautiful colors with which fact or fancy (I 
don't know which) has invested the dying Dolphin. 
Among these dwellers in the deep sea, are specimens as 
graceful and silvery as the Salmon or Trout, with 
others as ugly and hateful as toads or alligators. The 
Spanish Mackerel, a delicious fish, resembles the Salmon. 
They weigh from four to six pounds, and cost but from 
ten to fifteen stivers, or from fifteen to twenty cents. 
There is a fish called "the Doctor," from the fact that 
by touching a part near its tail a lancet springs out and 
inflicts a severe wound. Sprats are taken in great 
abundance, but the eating of them is a delicate matter, 
for while those with white fins are esteemed a luxury, 
those with yellow fins are so deadly poisonous as to 
produce certain death. The Lobster taken here differs 
from those found in our waters, both in color and claws, 
and is of an inferior quality. 

The marauding, dreaded Shark, always rife in trop- 
ical climates, is so common here as to deprive us of the 
luxury of open sea bathing. The Negro Cone Divers 
disregard these monsters; and some of the Planters 
bathe after sending a Negro further out into the Sea as a 
Sentinel. The water is so transparent here that Sharks 
are frequently seen prowling lazily about in the wake 
of their Pilot Fish. They are cautious in approaching 
their prey, which is never seized until the Pilot Fish 
approaches and reconnoiters the object of attack. The 
Pilot is a small Fish — scarcely as large as a Herring. 

We had a rare frolic with a Shark a few days since. 
A Spanish Schooner came in here with Cattle. The 
Cattle had been several days upon short allowance of 



356 Thitelow "Weed's 

water, and in swimming them ashore in their weakened 
condition two of them died. One of the carcasses was 
taken by the Negroes and anchored half a mile from 
the shore, to bait Sharks with. The rascals soon made 
their appearance. The Harpoon was sent with sure 
aim into a huge fellow, who darted off with such force 
as to break the line. But three of the School soon 
returned, one of which was struck with better fortune. 
This one, after powerful but unavailing struggles to 
escape, rose to the surface of the water, and then the 
Negroes got a "round hitch" upon his tail, when thej^ 
pulled for the shore. The word was passed through 
the streets that a Shark was coming in. This drew a 
large concourse of white, "ringed, speckled, and gray" 
spirits to the beach. 

When the boat approached the shore, a negro landed 
with the line to which the shark was fast, and which 
was seized by men, women, and boys, who with infinite 
glee drew the common enemy, struggling and flounder- 
ing, with blood streaming from his side and nostrils, 
high and dry upon land. This shark was eight feet 
long, and, though the harpoon had gone deep into his 
vitals, he displayed an activity and strength which 
admonished us to keep at a respectful distance. Its 
skin is smooth and sleek like that of a seal, or porpoise, 
and but for its enormous mouth you would suppose it 
quite as harmless. After forcing its mouth open with a 
handspike, and thrusting a large stone into its maw, it 
was cut open for its liver, which yielded seven gallons 
of lamp oil. But the shark had within him the evidence 
of having feasted bountifully upon unroasted beef 
before the harpoon did its office. Not less than thirty 



Letters from the "West Indies. 357 

9 

pounds of raw beef dropped from under his gasket. 
Among other delicate bits was a sirloin weighing 
twelve or fifteen pounds, with two entire and still un- 
broken ribs. During this process the shark floundered 
with prodigious strength, and even after its vitals were all 
out, the body retained a spasmodic action ; and finally, 
when the negroes rolled the trunk back into the sea, its 
native element seemed to impart a sort of galvanic life, 
for the contortions continued until it sunk out of sight. 

The long looked for ship Emily, Captain Davis, has 
arrived, bringing letters and papers which will give us 
several days of agreeable employment. In the Emily 
came sixteen passengers, among whom are Mi". Charles 
Minturn and Mr. Remsen, of New York, Mr. N R. 
Child, of Boston, and Mr. McMarttn and Mr. Ecker of 
Montgomery, each of whom, I am happy to say, are 
realizing the benefit they anticipated from a change of 
climate. 

P. H. Cowan, Esq., and Mr. Strachan, of Saratoga, 
Mr. Sharpe, of New York, who came out with us in the 
Cornelia, with Mr. Tysen, of Baltimore, have left for 
Curacoa, and which is said to be exempted from the fre- 
quent rains which fall here. I am indebted to Mr. 
Co wen for an addition to my supply of Congress Water, 
a beverage of priceless and precious value, whether 
quaffed at its healing Fountain, upon the broad Ocean, 
or in a West India island. 

Santa Cruz is as quiet and orderly on Sundays as any 
town in Connecticut or Massachusetts. Church is 
attended very regularly by planters and slaves. The 
Moravians, who commenced their missionary labors here 
more than a century ago, continue to exert a most ben- 



358 Thurlow Weed's 

eficent influence among the slaves. These good people, 
wherever they go, by examples as bright as their pre- 
cepts, seem to imbue their followers with right feelings 
and principles. The Rev. Mr. Mines, pastor of the 
Episcopal Church, and a most able and eloquent 
preacher, is doing much good here by an equally efficient 
and affectionate ministry. His efforts have not only 
drawn many to his confessional, but have exerted a 
wholesome moral influence throughout the island. Sev- 
eral hundred intelligent, honest, conscientious people of 
color belong to his church, and a still larger number are 
regular attendants upon his Sunday School. The fruits 
of the Rev. Mr. Mines' efforts are manifest alike in the 
religious profession and in the moral and intellectual 
elevation of blacks. His clerk, organist, and choir, are 
people of color. 

There is a Catholic Church here, of which the Rev. 
Mr. Ryan, a very excellent young man, is pastor. 
The worshipers, with few exceptions, are black, some 
of whom are free, and others slaves. This congregation, 
though of course poor, laid the foundation in 18 — , of a 
neat, massive and sufficiently large stone edifice, which, 
by their monthly contributions, judiciously expended, is 
now three-quarters finished. Its progress, however, 
is necessarily slow. Service is held in apartments tem- 
porarily inclosed. An effort was made last week to 
obtain funds enough to put a permanent roof upon that 
portion of the church in which the congregation assem- 
bles, when a large number of the colored people (most 
of whom were females), laid their contributions, amount- 
ing to from $1 to $5 each, upon the altar. These poor 
blacks, who pay thus liberally for the building of a 



Letters from the West Indies. 359 

place of worship, cannot earn, by their labor, more than 
an hundred or an hundred and fifty dollars a year. 
Their more fortunate and wealthy brethren in America 
could not do a more acceptable service than to raise 
$1,500 or $2,000 for the completion of this church. 



360 Thurlow Weed's 



VII. 

ST. THOMAS, W. I., January 15, 1845. 

We came to this Island yesterday in the brig Eliza, 
Capt. Lockwood, with a party of friends, four of whom 
(Mr. Gregory, of Jersey City, Mrs. Brinkerhoof and 
Mr. Austin, of New York, and Mr. Ames, of Albany) 
take passage in the British steamer that leaves in a few 
hoiu's for Havana, touching first at Bermuda, Barba- 
does, &c. She is fourteen days making the passage 
between St. Thomas and Havana. The passage money 
is $80. I went on board this steamer, a superb vessel 
of 1,800 tons burthen. She had a passage of 17 days 
from Southampton, England, touching at Madeira, &c. 
St. Thomas has a most eventful history, for which it 
is wholly indebted to its fine harbor, with which there is 
none to compare in the West Indies or South America. 
The Island is mountainous, and, for the most part, bar- 
ren, having never, I believe, produced more than three 
or four thousand hogsheads of sugar in a year. The 
harbor, narrow at its entrance, swells into a spacious 
and beautiful octagonal basin, furnishing ample and, 
except during the hurricane months, safe anchorage for 
all the vessels that frequent these seas. The entrance, 
on the left, is fortified, and on the right there is a Tel- 
egraph establishment and light-house. The city of St. 
Thomas is built upon three spires, or conical hills, sim- 
ilar in form, stretching out into the harbor from the base 



Letters from the West Indies. 361 

of a high, precipitous mountain. These hills, except 
that they descend more abruptly, resemble those upon 
the Hudson river, just north of the city of Hudson. 
One long, well built street, devoted to stores and shops, 
extends east and west through the city. These stores 
and shops are not only well stocked with goods but are 
thronged with purchasers. From this principal street 
there are Courts and Lanes running to the Quay, which 
are closely built up with spacious warehouses, that are 
filled with Merchandise and Produce. Above the prin- 
cipal street upon the hill side, are the mansions of 
merchants, &c, built upon terraces, your flight to most 
of which is assisted by steps. Many of the mansions 
are expensively and all neatly built, never, however, 
more than two, and generally but one story high, with 
large Piazzas, Verandahs, &c, and a profusion of doors 
and windows, to assist the circulation of fresh air. 
Still higher up the mountain, and where Eagles might 
be supposed to construct eyries, stand the old Castles 
and Towers built by the Buccaneers, so long the terror 
and scourge of these seas, and whose Bloody Flag, 
secretly protected by some Nations claiming to be civ- 
ilized, put the World at defiance. In the harbor about 
forty vessels now ride at anchor, three of which, the 
Texadore, from New York, the Dunlop, of Boston, and 
a ship from Maine, were dismasted in a Gale in the 
Gulf Stream. The Dunlop, in a totally disabled state, 
was fallen in with by Admiral Adam, of the British 
Navy, who took the wreck in tow four hundred miles, 
when, with the aid of jury masts, she was able to reach 
St. Thomas. 

St. Thomas is a Danish Island, but like St. Croix was 



362 Thuklow Weed's 

twice in possession of the English, and when its impor- 
tance, in a commercial point of view, is considered, I am 
surprised that John Bull should, contrary to his estab- 
lished policy, have restored it. But it was done under 
constraint, I suppose, by the Allied Sovereigns in their 
European Pacification after the overthrow of Napoleon 
in 1815. 

There is a population of about 12,000 in St. Thomas. 
The confusion of tongues and colors is among the first 
things that attract the notice of a stranger. You see 
and hear people of every color speaking in almost every 
language. Among the merchants and shopkeepers you 
encounter Spaniards, Danes, Germans, Frenchmen, Eng- 
lishmen, Scotchmen, Italians, Jews, Americans, &c. 
The negroes speak two and sometimes three or four 
languages. I noticed a sprightly black boy in the Bil- 
liard Room of oiu" Hotel, keeping game for one Table 
in English, for another in Spanish, and ordering Punch, 
Sherry Cobblers, Segars, &c, for the players, from the 
Barkeeper, in French, and speaking each language 
with apparent ease. St. Thomas, by the way, is regu- 
larly and abundantly supplied with Ice, a luxury of 
which most of the West India Islands are deprived. 
The first cargo arrived here in 18 — . The price varies 
from three to five stivers a pound. The Hotel de Com- 
merce, at which we are lodged, is the best in the West 
Indies. Its Proprietor is also its Cook, who is rarely 
seen out of the larder or Kitchen, the duties of which 
he discharges with admirable taste and science. Mon- 
sieur , is far happier, I am told, with your admir- 
ation of his exquisite Dishes than with the price you pay 
him for them. At this Hotel coffee, if desired, is brought 



Letters feom the "West Indies. 363 

to your bed-room at 5, 6 or 7 o'clock. An ample 
Breakfast is ready at 10 o'clock, and Dinner is 
announced at 6 in the afternoon. I am muck better 
pleased with tkese meals than with the hours at which 
they are served. The price paid for board here is $2.50 
per day. The house, though very large, has but few 
rooms, and can only accommodate twenty-five guests 
with Lodgings, though some sixty or eighty dine here. 
St. Thomas is still a place of great commercial activ- 
ity, though the facilities for money-making are not 
what they were thirty or forty years ago. But there 
are stocks of goods here now which are only equaled in 
value by those in our largest New York houses in the 
Spring and Fall. The sales of Merchandise, in this city, 
for the month of November, amounted to a million and 
a half of dollars. The stock of goods now in the 
extensive establishment of Gteotee & Co., through which 
we were shown, is worth half a million. Goods are 
landed duty free. This enables the merchants of St. 
Thomas to command a large portion of the trade of 
the Islands and of South America. The circumstance 
that St. Thomas has always been a Free Port, has 
attracted enterprising and adventurous spirits from all 
parts of the World to this "World. Large fortunes have 
been accumulated, in a few years, by persons who, in 
returning to enjoy the spoils in their own Country, take 
care to speak only in general terms of their business 
transactions. It is difficidt to penetrate the " mysteries" 
of this Island. Its real history is unwritten. But that 
it has been the scene of more atrocities, and the refuge 
for more outlaws, than any other Ocean Isle, is certain. 
When the Castles, to which I have referred, were built, 



364 Thurlow Weed's 

the Buccaneers were masters of the sea, but within 
their fastnesses, were " Lords of all they surveyed." 
It is not strange that before the " Supremacy of the 
Laws" was established upon the Ocean, while the 
cupidity of Europe was sharpened by the Gold and 
Silver mines of Mexico and Peru, daring and desperate 
adventurers should sea lay and rob these " rich Argo- 
sies" upon then.' return. Then all robbed, some on 
public and others on private account. Even Sir Frax- 
cis Drake was but an accredited Buccaneer. Col- 
umbus, and one or two other Spanish Discoverers, in 
their voyages, were alone governed and influenced by 
principles and impulses of a higher and nobler 
character. 

When Buccaneering, subdued by the progress of 
maritime civilization, became less audacious, St. Thomas 
also yielded to the sway of laws but feebly executed. 
The bold Buccaneer became the lurking Pirate ; and 
instead of Lording it in castles, found only hiding 
places at St. Thomas. " Long, low, black schooners " 
were not only notoriously fitted out in this harbor 
within the present century, but these vessels had secret 
owners, accessories and agents here while their bloody 
flag infested these seas. And these owners, &c, after 
accumulating fortunes by murder and robbery, have 
gone home to live in idleness and luxury, instead of 
expiating their guilt, as they should have done, upon a 
gibbet, as some did, for there were a score or two exe- 
cutions for Piracy here since the year 1800. There is 
at this moment a fellow on trial who, in command of a 
small sloop coming from Tortola, deliberately murdered 
two men while they were asleep, and a third, in 



Letters from the "West Indies. 365 

attempting to save his life by jumping overboard, was 
drowned. And all this blood was shed for $160. 

The slave trade is still carried on here, though like 
Buccaneering and Piracy, it has seen its worst days. 
Large fortunes have been amassed here by this infernal 
traffic ; and I am sorry to learn that Americans, from 
some of our Eastern States, have, until within a few 
years, when they were hunted from the Island, been 
concerned in it. Such, however, is not the character of 
the American merchants now residing here. On the 
contrary, such of our countrymen as I have met are 
gentlemen of commercial and moral integrity. 

There are two Banks and a Marine Insurance Com- 
pany at St. Thomas. There is also an Athenaeum and 
Reading Room, where a visitor passes his leisure hours 
with peculiar interest, for, in addition to their Library, 
you find all the Reviews, Magazines, and the leading 
London, Liverpool, Dublin, Edinburgh, Paris and West 
India Newspapers. Of American papers I saw but one 
file, and that, of all others in our country, one which has 
done us most injury at home and abroad. 

I have looked through the Library of the Athenaeum, 
for a history of St. Thomas, but find none, nor am I 
sure that there is any connected history of the Island. 
The Spanish and Danish Historians give detached 
accounts, and a Mr. Nissen, a Dane, who resided here 
forty years, kept a Journal, which has been published. 
I will endeavor to glean material for a Letter which, like 
this, shall in some sort redeem its defects by its brevity. 



366 Thurlow Weed's 



VIII. 

SANTA CRUZ, W. I, Jaxtaby 31, 1845. 

I remarked in a former letter that the fruits of this 
island, abundant as they are, have no comparison, in 
value, with oiu- own. Nor are our advantages, in other 
respects over those enjoyed in tropical climates, less 
marked and decided. Sugar, rum and molasses are the 
only exportable products of tliis island. Porto Rico 
adds coffee, and Cuba tobacco, to then sugar staple. 
But each of these islands are indebted to us for the 
" staff of life." We supply them also with salted pro- 
visions. And for every species of manufactured arti- 
cles they look either to Europe or America. Nor, 
taking the year through, is even their climate to be 
preferred to our own. The winter months may be 
delightfully passed here, but the islanders are as anx- 
ious to escape from the binning suns of June, July, 
August and September, as we are desirous of avoiding 
the frosts and snows of January, February and March. 
The Planters are now busily engaged in making 
sugar. Then* wind-mills, from every eminence, are ply- 
ing merrily. We have made the acquaintance of several 
planters, from whom we have invitations to visit their 
estates, the chives to which, upon magnificent roads, 
shaded by cocoanut, tamarind, orange and lime trees, 
are exceedingly picturesque. The cocoanut grows from 
forty to sixty feet high, the trunk of which for thirty 



Letters from the "West Indies. 367 

feet is without branch, limb or leaf. The tree is not 
only an evergreen, but is forever bearing, the low- 
est branches containing the fully ripe cocoa. The 
branches, after ripening their fruit, go " into the sear 
and yellow leaf," and fall to the ground. Above is a 
strata with nearly ripe fruit, then one with fruit half 
grown, and finally another with fruit just formed. The 
tamarind tree is large, with a leaf like the locust. 
The fruit grows in a pod resembling the Lima bean. 
The orange trees are frequently seen here from 20 to 
25 feet high. They are now in their glory. You can 
conceive of nothing more beautiful than an Orange 
Grove when the trees, as now, are loaded with large 
yellow fruit, hanging in clusters of four, five, six and 
even seven to the stem. The lemon and lime trees are 
smaller, but produce almost as abundantly. 

The mahogany tree grows here also, but not as 
thriftily as in South America. And the logwood, look- 
ing as tough and crabbed as when seen in front of our 
friend McCluee's store, also grows in clumps by the 
roadside. There is also the silk tree (the largest upon 
the island), with a large trunk of capricious, but wide 
spreading branches, which furnish a grateful shade. 
The cabbage tree, of uniformly graceful symmetry, is 
highly ornamental in groves and gardens. The body 
looks as if it came from a mould or turning lathe. 
The Machineel, by its fragrant odors, iuvites you to 
repose under its shading branches. But there is poison 
in its taste or touch. It bears an apple of such deli- 
cious flavor, that the temptation to " eat thereof" is very 
strong. But this may not be done with impunity. 
Indeed, if you take shelter from a shower under this 



368 Thurlow Weed's 

tree, drops of rain falling from its leaves upon your face 
or hands, raise blisters. 

You are less exposed to danger and annoyance from 
reptiles and insects here than in most other tropical cli- 
mates. There are no venomous snakes, crocodiles or 
alligators here. The Lizard abounds, but it is not 
only harmless but useful, in the war it wages upon mus- 
quitoes. Dr. Stevens, an eminent physician, of whom 
I shall have occasion to speak again, who has a favor- 
ite seat for study and repose, under the generous 
foliage of a tamarind tree, has fixed a shelf to the tree, 
near his head, where he feeds the lizard, and where they, 
apparently in return for his hospitality, sit catching and 
driving off the musquitoes, &c, while their protector 
remains with them. The Centipede, whose bite is 
worse than that of a wasp, crawls into yoiu* bed or 
clothes occasionally, but not often. Musquitoes are 
"plentiful" (as the negroes say), quite bloodthirsty, 
and sing as hatefully as those we encounter on a Canal 
Boat upon the Cayuga marshes. 

But though they get then- infernal fangs into us during 
the day and evening, they are prevented by an impen- 
etrable net which curtains our beds, from making night 
either hideous or horrible with then- music or their 
sting. But the insect most dreaded is the Chico, or 
"Jigger," that steals imperceptibly into the foot and 
there deposits eggs which if not seasonably removed, 
produce " Elephantiasis," a disease which dooms the 
human body to drag a foot and leg which in size and 
form resembles that of the Elephant. This insect gets 
under the skin and in six or seven days the part is 
enlarged to the size of a Pea. If it is then carefully 



Letters from the West Indies. 369 

extracted without breaking the covering which contains 
the eggs, no harm ensues, otherwise the blood becomes 
inflamed, and the foot and leg swell gradually to a 
frightful extent, presenting through life a disgusting 
deformity. These deformities are very numerous among 
the negroes. On a market day, among two or three 
hundred slaves, you see thirty or forty cases of Ele- 
phantiasis, mostly among the old men and women. I 
saw a slave yesterday not more than fourteen years old, 
with a foot and leg quite as large as that of an ordinary 
sized Elephant. The slaves thus affected are employed 
in taking care of cattle, sheep, &c, or doing light work. 

The Island is now very sickly. An intermittent 
fever has attacked most of the slaves and many white 
people, but has rarely proved severe or fatal. Such 
fevers, in former seasons, have been succeeded by lep- 
rosy, and you see negroes whose fingers and toes have 
fallen off. 

My attention was called the other day, by Doctor 
Stevens, to a phenomenon which reveals, in a striking 
manner, the wisdom and beneficence of Him to whom 
we are indebted for all our bounties and blessings. At 
sunrise the atmosphere, as far up as the eye reaches, 
over the Island, is transparently clear. Between seven 
and eight, when the sun begins to assert its supremacy, 
small specks of snow-white clouds appear which grad- 
ually enlarge, and finally, towards meridian, have run 
into each other and taken a form which is described by 
the Island, presenting a canopy — or if it be not irreve- 
rent to say so — an Awning, which protects the soil 
and those who dwell upon it, from the burning rays of 

the sun during the hours of its greatest power. But 

47 



370 Thuelow Weed's 

for this beneficent intervention of elements between the 
Earth and the Sun, its intense heat would prove alike 
fatal to vegetable, animal and human existence. Nor 
is this, in the opinion of Dr. S., the only benefit derived 
from the cloud that canopies the Island. He insists 
that most of our rain, instead of being drawn from the 
Ocean, is taken up from the moisture upon the Island, 
condensed and returned to us in gentle showers. 

The late Joseph Tuckerman, of Boston, who passed 
the winter of 1837 here, kept tables of the temperature 
for the months of December, January, February, 
March and April. The mean temperature for Decem- 
ber was 75 1 degrees, for January 76, for February 
771, fo r March 74, for April 76. The highest degree 
attained by the thermometer was 81A in December, 
81 f in January, 82 in February, 84 A in March, and 
85 in April. The greatest variation of temperature in 
any day, was in December 7 A, in January 7 A, in Februa- 
ry 8, in March 14A,, in April 7A. The ordinary daily 
variations of temperature are from 3 to 6 or 7 degrees. 
These changes, unless the thermometer is consulted, are 
scarcely perceptible. The atmosphere, while the wind 
comes from the southeast, as it does generally, is truly 
delicious. Easterly winds are pleasant, nor does a 
"norther," though not so safe for invalids, in the least 
disturb persons in health. 

My bed-room is without window glass, and although 
sleeping with the Venetian blinds open, I have neither 
blanket, coverlid or counterpane upon my bed, and very 
seldom find it necessary to draw the sheet over me. 
The nights, though warm, are neither close nor oppres- 
sive, so that your sleep is alike refreshing and delight- 



Letters from the West Indies. 371 

ful. From this healthful repose you are aroused at 
day-dawn by a gun from the Fort. From sunrise till 
breakfast time you ride or walk yourself into a good 
appetite ; after which, for two or three hours, there is 
the highest and truest enjoyment in your Segar and Book. 

There is now quite a Fleet of Merchantmen, await- 
ing the Sugar Crop, in our Harbor. Eight Danish 
Barks and Brigs, with one American Ship, two Brigs, 
and two Schooners. The brig Eliza, of New York, is 
now taking in cargo, and will sail in five or six days 
for New York. Mr. Hill is also loading the schooner 
Orizimbo for New York, to sail on Saturday. 

The bark Triton of Copenhagen, is a very beautiful 
vessel. Her gentlemanly commander, Capt. Poulson, 
went into the forest and laid the axe to the first tree for 
her keel, and then followed up the work, directing 
every step, until with her sails set and her flag unfurl- 
ed, he stood upon the quarter-deck of as fine a vessel 
as ever left Denmark. She has cabin accommodations 
for sixteen passengers, and I really don't know where 
sixteen persons can, at sea, enjoy more luxuries. Mr. 
Schoesboe, who is part owner of the Triton, joined 
with Captain Poulson in an invitation to the Americans 
here, to Tea, the other evening, on board. We had a row 
in the Bay, by the bright but mellowed rays of a moon, 

"That scorns the eye of vulgar light," 

with music and melody, before going on board. After 
Tea the Party came on deck and beguiled an hour in 
the "mazy dance." 

A clay or two afterwards Captain Davis invited us 
with a party of twenty, to Dinner, on board his ship, 
the Emily. This Dinner, graced as the table was, by 



372 Thurlow "Weed's 

several peculiarly American dishes, was exceedingly 
home-like, and when "Absent friends" were remember- 
ed in a glass of generous old Madeira, the eyes reflected 
the emotions of the heart. Among the luxuries upon 
the table, was a profusion of Green Marrowfat Peas, 
from the estate of Mr. Lang, a young Scotchman who, 
I infer, takes great pleasure in regaling his friends with 
delicacies, for on the following day, at the table of 
Messrs. Hill and Walker, who, in then- bachelor 
establishment, "live at a bountiful old rate," I had the 
double pleasure of meeting Mr. Lang and of renewing 
my acquaintance with his fine Marrowfat Peas. 

I have been surprised, in visiting the estates, at the 
many little comforts enjoyed by the Slaves, and the 
neatness of most of the negro houses. These houses 
are in a cluster near the Planter's mansion. Each 
family has its home. The character and habits of each 
family are indicated by the appearance of then House. 
If the man is industrious and the woman frugal and 
neat, you see a comfortable bed, table, chairs, trunks, 
&c, with a bureau, looking glass, and a variety of 
simple ornaments, all tidily arranged. On the other 
hand, if the man is idle and the woman thriftless, the 
picture is reversed. They have only the necessaries 
of life, and these, neglected and dirty, proclaim the 
wide contrast between industry and sloth. 

Mr. MrNTURN of New York, and Doctor Kellogg of 
Hamilton, U. C, left us yesterday, for New Orleans. 
Doctor K., who is much respected, has not, I am sorry 
to say, yet realized the advantages hoped for by a 
change of climate. Mr. Minturn is quite well. We 
parted with them most unwillingly. Of some forty 



Letters feom the West Indies. 373 

invalids from America, now here, all but four are con- 
valescent. Miss Dodge of New York, is sinking very 
rapidly. Mr. Sears of Boston, is seriously ill. Mr. 
Butteefield of Chicago, has been unfavorably affect- 
ed for a week,, but is now mending under favorable 
auspices. Mr. Campbell of Philadelphia, who rather 
lost than gained health for the first seven weeks, is now 
decidedly better. 

Doctors Upson and Moore, the former coming here 
for his health, which is improving, and the latter as the 
medical attendant of Mrs. Livingston; and Doctor 
Buckler, of Baltimore, whose Son is very ill, have been 
exceedingly attentive and kind to all the American 
invalids. With these gentlemen, in connection with 
Doctor Stevens, who is known to the Faculty all over 
the AVorld as a most eminent Physician, Patients have 
all that Medical science and experience can do for them. 

Our departed friend and associate, John Visscher, 

passed one of his Winters of severe illness here. Mr. 

Schoesboe, one of his Island friends, has preserved a 

poetic fragment which shows, what all who visited him 

knew, how cheerfully he bore up under the ravages of 

a distressing and fatal malady : 

A RIDING PARTY IN ST. CROIX. 
A Captain, on the Water, and the Land ■ — ■ 
See Poulson, marching out his gay command ; 
See tall Cornelia, on his right hand prance, 
And short Miss Visscher on his left advance. 
Next comes Blanchard arm'd with an Orange staff, 
And lively Lissy, with her hearty laugh ; 
Then Mrs. Blanchard with her smiling face, 
And Anna, with a form all grace, 
And then, with cheeks as blooming as the flowers, 
Comes charming, lovely, little Mrs. Powers; 
And last, not least, attendant on the Fair, 
Behold that d — 1 Schoesboe, on his Mare. 



374 Thuelow Weed's 



IX. 

SANTA. CRUZ, W. I, February 24, 1845. 

"We have had unpleasant northerly winds for a fort- 
night, with more than the usual quantities of rain. 
This has affected invalids unfavorably. Mr. Child, of 
Rochester, has suffered severely from acute rheumatism, 
Mr. Campbell, of Philadelphia, and Mr. Sears, of 
Yarmouth, Mass., have been very ill, and the latter 
gentleman, who went a few days since to St. Thomas, 
remains without any favorable change. The bad 
weather drove Messrs. Remson, Minton and son, Stout, 
and Butterfeeld, away from the Island. Mi-. Butter- 
field had been quite ill, and seemed too feeble to leave 
the sick bed from which he rose to take his departure. I 
trust he may not be disappointed in finding the benefit 
he anticipates from a voyage further south. 

The sugar crop is now coming in, but not as rapidly 
as was expected. The mills have been stopped by head 
winds. As the wind almost always blows from the 
east or southeast here, the wind-mills are constructed 
with reference to the usual course of things. There 
are three estates on the island with steam mills. These 
of course "go ahead" regardless of wind or weather. 
The sugar crop will be large, though it will get late 
into market. Much of it will be shipped to Denmark. 
The Ti'iton and Alert are now taking in then cargoes. 
The former is to sail on Tuesday. 



Letters from the West Indies. 375 

The sugars are drawn into town by oxen or mules, 
sis of either of which haul four hogsheads. The 
negroes manage a team very awkwardly. Three or foiu' 
slaves are seen driving three yoke of oxen, while 
another, tugging at a rope tied to the horns, goes ahead 
of the leaders. The sugars are weighed at the custom 
house, and then taken off in lighters to the ships. The 
teams return with staves, hoop-poles, meal, herring, &c, 
&c, for the estates. 

Each estate has its name. Those nearest to us are 
"The William," " Little Le Grange," "Big Le Grange," 
"Wheel of Fortune," "Concordia," "Jolly Hill," "Carl- 
ton," "Diamond," "Prosperity," "Sprat Hole," "Whim," 
" North Side," &c, &c. The small estates are worked 
by gangs of negroes fifty or sixty in number, while the 
large ones have gangs from 150 to 200 strong. Each 
estate has also among its slaves a carpenter, mason, 
smith, and one or more coopers. These men, if industri- 
ous and frugal, save enough from their extra work to 
purchase their freedom when 30 or 35 years old. They 
however remain from choice upon the estate, receiving 
wages, that they may live and die where they were 
born. 

There are, of the thousands stolen from Africa, and 
brought to this island, but very few living. Those 
generations have passed away, leaving an inheritance 
of slavery to their children. The planters tell me that 
the Africans were governed with much more difficulty, 
and worked with more reluctance, then the present race. 
They were generally sullen, often revengeful, and could 
seldom be conciliated even by kindness. Many, they 
say, would " take the sulks," reject their food, get sick 



376 Thuelqw Weed's 

and die. This shows plainly enough, that the poor 
victims cherished a deep sense of the injustice and 
wrong they were suffering. The slaves of the present 
day, who are "to the manor born," have different 
natures. They grow up to regard their masters as 
protectors instead of oppressors. And if the master 
proves kind to them, they seem contented and cheerful. 
But slavery here, as elsewhere, has its repulsive fea- 
tures — features upon which it is painful to look, and on 
which I have no disposition to dwell. There are whole- 
some influences, however, at work here. The day and 
Sunday schoolmasters are abroad in the island. Slaves 
are acquiring just moral and religious impressions, and 
their obedience corresponds with their knowledge. 
Within the last two years several hundred marriages 
between slaves have been solemnized. And a higher 
tone of moral sentiment is imposing its restraints upon 
proprietors, managers, &c, &c. For much of this the 
island is indebted to the Rev. Mr. Mines. 

Mr. Waekee took me, a few mornings since, into a 
high mountain where he showed me not only the King- 
dom of St. Croix, but of the surrounding Island. This 
view which is truly a sublime one, was from Mount 
Stuart, or " Bodkin's Hill," as it is most frequent called. 
It was a clear, calm morning. We rode four miles in a 
gig, to where, at the foot of the Hill, a negro had pre- 
ceded us with saddled horses, upon which we ascended 
to an elevation from which the whole Island of Santa 
Cruz lay spread out in full view below us, while at the 
North, we saw St. Thomas and the group of Islands in 
its neighborhood ; the Island of Porto Rico, in the West, 
and had not the rising sun intercepted, with its rays, 



Letters from the West Indies. 377 

our view, the Island of Nevis would have been visible 
in the East. Upon the sea, then in profound repose, 
not a sail was to be seen, though the eye reached from 
sixty to seventy miles in all directions. The Island 
itself, which, from this elevation, had apparently shrunk 
into an ample, but highly cultivated farm, was clothed 
in verdure of the deepest green, broken occasionally by 
fields in which the cane had been cut. Altogether, the 
view was too highly beautiful for a prose description, 
and one that would have called forth the loftiest efforts 
of the Poet and Painter. 

"We rode out the other morning to Lunch with some 
friends (Mr. G-radon and lady of New York) who are 
staying at Jolly Hill, and alighted just as the Negroes 
were recovering from a panic occasioned by the burning 
of one of their houses. Fortunately Mr. Logan, who 
owns the estate, happened to be at hand, or a dozen 
houses would have been consumed, for the negroes, 
without somebody to direct, in such emergencies, are 
like so many sheep. The Major offered the old woman 
whose house was burnt, a large, roomy, convenient 
house that was built for and occupied by the manager, 
but she warmly protested against it. " Shingle house," 
she said, "was for Buckra — old nigger woman want 
her task house." The negro houses are thatched with 
cane-tops. Finding the old negress, who has been a 
valuable slave, determined not to move into the "shingle 
house," the Major set the Mason, Carpenter, &c, 
immediately at work to repair her domicil. This 
woman, he informed us, had four sons and three daugh- 
ters, all industrious and faithful, at work in his fields. 
She herself had been exempted for a long time from 

48 



378 Thurlow Weed's 

labor, but such as she chose to perform. We walked 
about this cluster of negro houses, some thirty or forty 
of which stand upon an acre or an acre and a half of 
ground. Each family has its own two or three pigs in a 
sort of crate pen, and its half dozen fowls about the door. 
The houses are shaded by Orange, Lemon, Tamarind and 
other trees. We saw here, too, for the first time, the 
Coffee tree, which grows to the size, and in some respects 
resembles our largest Oleander. The Coffee tree is 
very pretty. Some of them were in bloom, some bud- 
ding, and some with nearly ripe coffee. 

I rode out the other day, with my friends, Hill, 
Walker and Captain Davis, to dine with Major Logan 
(a warm hearted son of Erin) at his Le Grange 
Estate, which is charmingly situated about three miles 
from town. After a pleasant walk about his grounds 
and among his fruit trees, we sat down at 6 o'clock to 
a dinner, excellent and bountiful in itself, and so delight- 
fully flavored with conversation, that when at 10 o'clock 
the " Vel ve.l bekomme dem" salutation was exchanged in 
a parting glass of Madeira, I thought we had not been 
more than an hour at table. I was interested while at 
dinner with what had passed between the Major and 
the Negro Drivers and slaves who presented themselves, 
from time to time, at an open window near the head of 
the table, with reports or complaints, or asking instruc- 
tions. The spot where the negroes appeared was so 
shaded by trees and vines as to render them invisible, 
though I sat facing the window. One came to report 
a case of sickness, another the lameness of a mule, 
another asked how many hands should go to this field, 
another how that gang should be employed ; and finally, 



Letters from the "West Indies. 379 

one came to complain of a negro who was quarreling' 
with his wife and keeping their neighbors awake. The 
other messages were all despatched with brief answers, 
but this was a case of more delicacy. The wife, it 
appeared, was in the habit of attending " evening meet- 
ings" and staying so late as to excite the husband's 
jealousy. The parties had made mutual complaints 
to the Major, and he had advised them to settle their 
differences and live in peace. After talking the matter 
over with the man who came to complain, the 
Major directed him to go back and " tell Jim I think 
he is wrong, but let them be aisy to-night. To-morrow 
I will inquire whether Catharine goes to meetings like 
a good Christian, as I think she is, or is off where a 
dacent woman has no business." These answers were 
given without in the least interrupting our conversation. 
The Major, who has lived a long time on the Island, 
told us many amusing anecdotes. Let me give you a 
specimen. When the island was in the possession of 
the British, its Governor, Gen. Harcourt, purchased 
"Carlton," a fine estate, now owned by Dr. Stevens. 
His "manager" was an Irishman, who was indebted 
more to nature than to education for his intellectual 
endowments. Some difficulty arising among the slaves, 
he wrote a hasty note and despatched a messenger to 
the Government House, informing the General that 
there was a "resurrection" on the estate and asking 
what should be done 1 The General, who was a wag 
himself, wrote, for an answer, by the messenger, that he 
was "happy to hear of the 'resurrection' and directing 
McCormick to put hoes into the hands of the resurrec- 
tionists, as fast as they appeared, and set them to work." 



380 Thuelow Weed's 

On another occasion, the Governor was walking with 
his Manager through a beautiful Avenue upon the 
Estate, which was bordered with orange trees ; and 
picking one, he remarked that they were fine trees. 
"Yes, your honor," replied the Manager; but that 
Soebotker (a former proprietor) was an old fool." Why 
so 1" inquired the Governor. " To be planting his trees 
where every d — d nagur can be plucking the oranges," 
answered McCoemick. 

On the 22d instant, all the shipping in the harbor dis- 
played then* colors, in honor of Washington, whose 
virtues are revered by foreigners as highly as by 
Americans. Mr, Robinson, a West Indian, who keeps 
a store and hotel here, and is exeeedingly attentive to 
Americans, displayed the stars and stripes from his flag- 
staff, and invited the Americans in St. Croix to a lunch, 
moistened by guava punch, at 12 o'clock. 

On the 23d instant, another of the Cornelia's passen- 
gers, Miss Elizabeth Dodge, was called to that "bourne 
from whence no traveler returns." She was a native 
of Massachusetts, but had resided for several years in 
New York and New Jersey. She left home with but few 
sands of life left, and they have been gradually ebbing, 
day by clay, until the last was spent. Miss Dodge 
was a lady of more than ordinary attainments, and from 
her patient endurance of long and severe illness, excited 
the warmest sympathies of all who were around her. 
Flattered by the hopes with which consumption so often 
beguiles its victims, she had looked forward, if not to a 
recovery, at least to a reunion, in the spring, with a 
much loved sister. But when a fortnight before her 
death, this hope was crushed, by the assurance of her 



Letters from the "West Indies. 381 

physician that she could survive but a few days longer, 
she received the fatal intelligence with composure and 
resignation. After giving Harriet and Mrs. Scovel, 
whose room joined hers, and who were much with her, 
directions of various descriptions in regard to the event, 
and charging them with messages to her sister and 
nieces, she relinquished her hold upon life, endured her 
sufferings without a murmur, and awaited the hour of 
departure with singular calmness. She was accom- 
panied by a brother, who devoted himself, day and 
night, to the doomed sufferer. 

It is painfully mortifying to see that the proprieties 
of life are further outraged by the publication of the 
Onderdonk Trial. There is no possible excuse for such 
loathsome revelations. It is worse than absurd — it is 
insulting the intelligence and justice of the community, 
to say that these disgusting details are sent forth, to 
deprave and shock what there is left of decorum and 
delicacy, as a vindication of those who voted against 
the offender. It were far better that an hundred Bish- 
ops should suffer from misrepresentation, than that all 
this offal and garbage should have been served out to 
pollute the social and poison the moral atmosphere of 
the country. 

March 7. 

The ship Emily, by which I now send this Letter, 
should have sailed ten days ago, but was detained by 
weather which arrested the sugar-making. She sails, 
with a full cargo and fair wind, this evening. The 
Emily is a fine ship, with admirable accommodations. 
Capt. Davis, who commands, and is part owner of the 



382 Thurlow Weed's 

Emily, belongs to the first class of shipmasters. He 
is, also, as much respected on shore as at sea. He 
makes fast friends of all who go passengers in his ship. 
I had hoped to have returned with him this voyage, 
but am disappointed. 

We remain without intelligence from home. I am 
longing for newspapers. 



Letters from the West Indies. 383 



X. 

SANTA CRUZ, February 27, 1845. 

The Rev. Mr. Mines drove me out yesterday to one 
of the island schools, of which Mr. McFarland, a very 
competent and zealous man, is teacher. There are 
about 200 children, between the ages of five and eight, 
attached to this school, though but 160 were in attend- 
ance, the others, for the most part, being detained by 
the prevailing fever. These children are collected 
from seven adjoining estates, each squad being at- 
tended to and from school by a nurse, in the person of 
an old slave, with whom a sharp Yankee might realize 
two fortunes, one by exhibiting her as " Joice Heth," 
and another by converting her into an Egyptian 
Mummy." 

This school is admirably constructed. The studies 
and exercises, mental and physical, are so diversified as 
to keep the children interested, young as they are, 
during school hours. The senior classes read tolerably 
well, and have some knowledge of History and Geog- 
raphy. Moral and Religious sentiments, in modes 
adapted to their understanding, are impressed upon all. 
They all learn a Catechism prepared for these schools, 
and their vocal powers are so well cultivated that they 
sing their Hymns far from inhamioniously. The in- 
struction, scanty as it necessarily must be, thus im- 
parted, is a priceless blessing. It opens new sources 



384 Thurlow Weed's 

of enjoyment to a race whose share of human happi- 
ness is at best but scanty and stinted. At half-past 
eleven the school was dismissed, when the old nurses 
gathered their respective broods and went " clucking " 
off, hen and chickens like, to then' coops. 

The manager of an estate receives from six to seven 
hundred dollars a year for his services, with a house 
rent free. An overseer gets from $50 to $70 per 
month. There is a physician to each estate, who re- 
ceives one dollar per annum upon each slave for his 
medical services. The apothecary who furnishes the 
medicine receives twenty cents per annum for each 
slave. 

The machinery of government is by no means as 
simple here, nor are its burthens as light as I at first 
supposed. There are, also, onerous expenses attending 
the partition and settlement of the estates of deceased 
persons. Public auctions must be attended by two 
government officers (an attorney and clerk or register), 
for the payment of whom, and for the duty to govern- 
ment, the purchaser pays eleven per cent over and 
above the price he bids upon all property purchased. 
Before an estate is sold, it must be surveyed by an 
officer of the army, who receives for his services from 
$200 to $250, according to the number of acres sur- 
veyed. This is not clone so much for the security of 
purchasers as for the benefit of His Majesty's otherwise 
poorly paid officers. 

Danish officers, by the "way, are poorly paid. The 
purser of the man-of-war brig now here told me yes- 
terday that his pay is a doubloon a month, and that his 
perquisites amount to a sum that swells his annual 



Letters prom the West Indies. 385 

compensation to about $600. A first lieutenant in the 
Danish navy is not as well paid as a midshipman in the 
American navy. But, by way of equalizing these 
things, living is cheap in Denmark. A family can live 
respectably at Copenhagen on $500 a year, and out of 
the city for considerably less. 

I do not realize the inconvenience I anticipated for 
the want of ice. The water here is very good, though 
one would suppose, from the fact that it is rain water 
preserved in cisterns, that it would be quite too warm. 
But this is not the case. They have a way of purify- 
ing water by filtration, and then raising its temperature 
in earthern vessels, so that it is always sufficiently cool. 

I spoke, in a former letter, of the arrival of the 
" Johanna Maria," a ship built of Teak wood, in the 
East Indies, nearly or quite an hundred years ago. 
"We have since been invited by Capt. Shultz, who 
commands her, to an entertainment on board. She is 
truly a wonderful vessel. Her great age is indicated 
by everything, except that her original wood work is 
as sound as when she was launched. Her hull, unlike 
other vessels, constructed of ribs and plank, is of tim- 
ber, so joined as to require no caulking. The floor in 
one of her cabins, which has never been renewed, is 
considerably worn, but not as much as a brick or stone 
floor would have been. In 1801, during the war be- 
tween England and Denmark, she mounted 44 guns, 
with which she did good service. She is a good sailor, 
and so dry as scarcely ever to require the use of her 
pumps. She was handsomely decorated with flags and 
brilliantly lighted. While we were there a Danish 
man-of-war brig arrived, whose officers came on board 

49 



386 Thurlow Weed's 

the "Johanna Maria," and helped to enliven both the 
Danes and the Supper. 

Sugar's are selling here now at $3.25, $3.50, and 
$3.75 per hundred. Those going to the United States 
pay an export duty of ten per cent and those to Copen- 
hagen of five per cent. Rum and Molasses cost, includ- 
ing cask and export duty, from 14 to 15 cents per 
gallon. The best Sugars seldom get into market, as first 
qualities, by mixing, help the sale of the inferior article. 

In shipping molasses, each hogshead is decanted. 
Empty hogsheads are first stowed in a tier below. Full 
hogsheads are then placed over the hatchway, from 
which the molasses runs through a hose into the hogs- 
heads below. This avoids the leakage that would be 
occasioned by the breaking and starting hoops by 
storing them otherwise. The cargo is taken off to the 
vessels in lighters. They stow from forty to fifty 
hogsheads of molasses in a day. 

We have had three arrivals from New York within 
the last ten days, but no Letters or Papers came. This 
leaves us quite "behind the intelligence of the age." 
By scratching around among the Captains and Mates, I 
got hold of a few chance Papers, from which broken 
and detached items were gleaned. Texas, I infer from 
the ground taken by Senators Benton and Rives, 
twinkles as a " lone star " for another year. President 
Polk, if a strong paragraph may be regarded as au- 
thority, " goes to housekeeping " with Mr. Weller as 
his Attorney-General ! Mr. Calhoun remains in the 
State Department. Senator Walker should go to 
England as Minister, if, as seems likely, there is a de- 
termination to embroil us with that Government. 



Letters from the West Indies. 387 

I cannot agree with those who oppose the admission 
of Texas, after the People, by a blind and reckless, 
but decisive majority, declared themselves in favor of 
that measure. I would have admitted Texas promptly, 
in obedience to the popular sentiment, but with a 
Territorial Government, leaving the question of Sla- 
very to be settled when she claimed admission as 
a State or States. And upon the question of Sla- 
very, when the People had been awakened to a 
sense of their former delusion and folly, they would 
have resisted to the death, had such resistance become 
necessary. While we leave Slavery, with the territory 
and power which that interest smuggled into the Con- 
stitution, they enjoy all they have a right to ask, and 
all that Freemen should yield. Let them keep their 
" pound of flesh," for it was " so nominated in the 
bond," but when more is demanded, even if it be only 
the " avoirdupois of a hair," let us set our faces sternly 
and unflinchingly against the demand. 

I wish there was a voice loud enough to reach all 
ears, and sufficiently influential to impress two great 
principles of Reform upon the People. The first prin- 
ciple is Obedience to the Popular Will, as expressed 
through the Ballot Boxes, so that instead of a theory, 
we may have practically a Representative Govern- 
ment. When a great public measure has been at issue 
between the* two great political parties, discussed in 
Congress, submitted to the People, and their decision 
had upon it, let that decision, right or wrong, be held 
as binding upon Congress. In this way only can the 
People be made to act upon their responsibilities. In 
this way only can they be made to appreciate the value 



388 Thuelow Weed's 

of the Ballot. In this way only can they be made to 
think and act for themselves. In this way only can they 
be brought to realize that the Sovereign Power, for good 
or for evil, resides with themselves. The Elective Fran- 
chise, while it means nothing, is worth nothing. 

The country owes most of its misrule and misery to 
the action of minorities — well-meaning, patriotic, but 
misguided minorities. This action saves a bad Admin- 
istration from itself. It restrains men in power from 
doing what would ruin them. How much of loss, dis- 
tress, corruption and dishonor would have been averted, 
for example, if after the veto, we had regarded Gen. 
Jackson's re-election as decisive against a Bank of the 
United States 1 Had we then acknowledged the supre- 
macy of the people, the vetoed Bank would have paid 
its debts, redeemed its circulating notes, repaid its stock- 
holders, and closed its doors so rapidly as to have turn- 
ed the current of popular feeling that had been running 
against it, as decidedly in its favor. But we refused to 
submit to the will of the majority ; procured, by open 
purchase and secret bribery, an illegitimate charter from 
a profligate State Legislature, and dishonestly kept in 
circulation the same notes that had been issued by the 
legitimate Bank of the United States. In this way we 
contributed to the election of Van Bueen, and brought 
bankruptcy and repudiation, reproach and dishonor upon 
our country. Indeed our overthrow, as a party, was so 
signal that when Van Bueen came in we were too weak 
to restrain him — and hence, being left to cany out his 
principles, he was held responsible for their conse- 
quences, and thus, as would be the fate of all rulers who 
wring and oppress the people, he ruined himself. Mr. 



Letters from the West Indies. 389 

Polk has been elected President by duphcity and false- 
hood. It was essential, with, a view to bis election, to 
profess principles wbicb one-half who voted for him did 
not intend to carry out. The minority, by not uniting 
with those who acted thus dishonestly, saves the Admin- 
istration from itself, and encourages demagogues, in 
1848, in 1852, in 1856, and until the Republic comes 
to be shipwrecked, to go on defrauding the people. 

I am most ardently in favor of the Tariff, and most 
inflexibly opposed to the admission of Texas into the 
Union. But as the people, not only of the South, but 
of Pennsylvania, New York, New Hampshire, Maine, 
&c, comprising a decisive majority of the whole, have 
decided, after free discussion and mature deliberation, 
against the Tariff and in favor of Texas, I would allow 
the majority to carry out their principles. I admit that 
that these measures are both wrong. But I insist that 
the people have the right to do wrong; and though 
temporary evil would ensue, I would endure this cheer- 
fully, in consideration of the permanent good that would 
follow. Such a lesson as this would teach the people 
what must be learnt soon, or learning, like remorse, may 
come too late. 

Another and most important Reform is the one 
teem principle. Let it be firmly established that the 
Presidency, for one teem is the " be all and end all " 
of human ambition in America, and we shall soon 
experience the good effects of such a change. Men 
would continue to struggle for the Presidency ; devices 
and arts and stratagems would still be resorted to, during 
the canvas ; but when the elections were over, and the 
prize obtained, the motive for misrule ceases. A Presi- 



390 Thuelow Weed's 

dent who knows that he has only one teem of service, 
instead of perverting and prostituting his power and 
his patronage, to purchase a re-election, would aim to 
administer the Government honestly, that he might live 
respected in his retirement, and leave his name untar- 
nished to posterity. Even John Tyler, the poor, 
miserable, despised imbecile, who now goes from the 
Presidential chair scorned of all parties, but for his pro- 
fligate and disgraceful, though impotent efforts for a 
re-election, would have passed at least decently through 
his official course. If the people, rising above party 
influence, would now unite to effect this Reform, they 
would purify the Administration of their Government, 
and lengthen out their lease of Republican Institutions. 
The Camilla, a vessel that started from New York 
for St. Thomas on the 1st of February, has neither 
arrived nor been heard from. There is, therefore, too 
much reason to apprehend that she is lost. 



Letters feom the West Indies. 391 



XI. 

SANTA CEUZ, Makch 20, 1845. 

President Polk has taken possession of the White 
House, but we know nothing here of his cabinet or his 
inaugural. It is a relief, nevertheless, to feel that there 
is an end of Tylerism, than which it is quite impossible 
to conceive of anything more detestable. 

Texas, it would seem from our last accounts, has been 
annexed to the United States. This, in all rational 
probability, secures a permanent slave supremacy in 
the Administration of the Government. Such, at all 
events, was the known and avowed object of its annexa- 
tion. This object was manifested in the rejection of 
Mr. Van Bueen, as a candidate for President, after his 
Anti-Texas letter, by a convention instructed and 
pledged to nominate him. The question of annexation 
was distinctly submitted to the people. That question 
— and that question alone — produced Mr. Polk's nom- 
ination. The Presidency hung upon that question, first 
in the nominating convention, and again at the ballot 
boxes, where the people ratified the act of the conven- 
tion. This is the precise truth, and it is as unwise as 
dishonest to deny it. The people have themselves to 
blame for whatever of calamity ensues. If New York, 
and Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire, and Maine, 
should become weary of their bondage, the fault is 
their own ; for they gave their free limbs to the man- 



392 Thurlow Weed's 

acles with which they are to go clanking through the 
world. I do not blame the South for pushing its advan- 
tages. The points gained are as vital to them as they 
are fatal to us. Whenever and wherever the rights and 
interests of the North and South have clashed, they 
have owed their triumph to our treachery. The politi- 
cal, numerical, intellectual, moral and physical power 
and strength of the country, resided North of "Mason's 
and Dixon's line." But our "Dough-Faces" have frit- 
tered it all away. We have had the power to confine 
Slavery to its constitutional limits, and it was our 
imperative duty to have exerted this power. But how 
lamentably we have failed in the discharge of this duty ! 
The South is indebted, for every acre of acquired Slave 
territory, to the recusancy of the North. The People 
have tamely and ingloriously allowed political leaders 
to surrender, campaign after campaign, the fastnesses 
and bulwarks of Freedom, for the "loaves and fishes" 
of office. All that is important and valuable in policy, 
and all that is dear and precious in principle, has been 
yielded by " dough-faced" Eepresentatives, to obtain 
places in Cabinets, Missions abroad, and "spoils" at 
home. And the result of all this baseness and treach- 
ery is, that Slavery not only boasts a President chosen 
expressly to enlarge its boundaries, but has acquired a 
decided preponderance in the Senate of the United 
States ! But I rejoice that Heaven's justice has over- 
taken one of the arch-traitors by whom the heritage of 
Freedom has been sacrificed. Martin Van Buren, the 
" Northern man with Southern principles," who, for more 
than twenty years, continued selling his birth-right for 
pottage, was, in his utmost need, abandoned by those 



Letters from the West Indies. 393 

for whom he had sacrificed the North. This was a 
righteously retributive punishment. Those whom he 
had so long oppressed and mocked, would have been 
but half avenged, had the bolt which struck him down 
been sped by other hands. 

I wish with all my heart that you could beg or bor- 
row a Santa Cruz moonlight. I will not attempt 
any description. Only a poet would be mad enough 
to venture upon such an impossibility. 

We went the other day to " Bass End," for the two- 
fold purpose of seeing the town and of paying our 
respects to Gov. Van Sholton. The distance is fifteen 
miles, and the drive a delightful one. The central part 
of the island is such a perfect Garden of Eden, that 
when you come to an estate called " Paradise," the 
whole scene wears a celestial aspect. Returning, we 
dined in company with our friends Hill and Walker, 
with Mr. Lang, upon his estate, " Adventure," and then 
drove in by moonlight. 

There were seven Danish and two American vessels 
at " Bass End." One of the latter (the Condor) was 
run into, on her way out, by a large ship, and so cut to 
pieces that her preservation seems miraculous. Her 
stern, almost to midship, was entirely stove in. The 
collision occurred in a dark night, three hundred miles 
from port. The ship pursued her course without even 
inquiring what damage she had done. Fortunately the 
Condor had mild weather after the accident, and reached 
her destination, but in a sinking condition. 

The Government House is, for so small an island, an 
expensive establishment. Gov. Van Sholten inquired 
about Texas and the Tariff. His Excellency, by the 

50 



394 Thurlow "Weed's 

way, visited America in 1836, with a view of making 
some arrangement with our Government that should 
admit the products of this island upon terms more 
favorable, by granting reciprocal advantages. 

We saw, near Bass End, quite a forest of Century 
Plants, many of which were in full flower, but none so 
large or more perfect than that which bloomed, two or 
three years ago, in the Patroon's Garden. 

I was delighted, a few days since, with a flying visit 
from our friend Riddle, of Allegany, who, on his way 
to Cuba, seemed either to have dropped from the clouds 
or to have come up out of the sea, for no vessel had 
arrived ; but upon inquiry it turned out that while the 
ship in which he is passenger was laying at St. Thomas, 
he chartered a "cockle-shell" that brought him to us. 
I drove him out to Maj. Logan's that afternoon. We 
found the Major with two friends (he never dines alone) 
at their dessert and Madeira, with whom we passed a 
pleasant evening. The next morning we all drove out 
to Carlton, where we breakfasted sumptuously with 
Doctor Stevens, and passed a delightful forenoon in 
his Garden and about his Plantation. While enjoying 
our Segars under a broad-spreading Tamarind tree, 
the Lizards came down as usual, to keep the Musquitoes 
away from their Protector. The Doctor's kindness for 
animals has developed instincts and awakened affections 
that would not discredit a race intellectually endowed. 
His beautiful fan-tailed Pigeons, when he returns from 
town, come with their greetings to his Carriage, and 
perch upon his shoulders. His Lizards jump from the 
Trees into his hands. A year or two since, when sev- 
eral of the Officers of the United States Ship Potomac, 



Letters from the West Indies. 395 

with two gentlemen residing here, were at Breakfast 
with the Doctor, a huge Lizard that had the misfortune 
too lose its tail, by some casualty, marched into the 
room, and up to the Doctor, with the dismembered limb 
in its mouth ! This looks, I confess, too much like a 
" Remarkable Snake Story," but it is, nevertheless, a 
well authenticated fact. The maimed reptile, under the 
influence of instinct highly excited, sought relief from 
the hand by which it had been fed and cherished. The 
Doctor himself regards the circumstance as a tribute to 
his skill in Surgery. The unreasoning species are not 
alone, however, in their appreciation of Doctor Stevens' 
Medical services. He performed, at an early day, with 
entire success, some of the most difficult Surgical opera- 
tions. His writings upon Yellow Fever, Scurvy, &c, 
won for him the highest Medical honors that Europe 
confers. He was one of three eminent Physicians upon 
whom Degrees were conferred upon the occasion of 
Lord "Wellington's installation as Chancellor of Oxford 
University. He is now devoting himself to investiga- 
tions of the highest interest touching the Phenomena 
of Life, which, in his judgment, prove, 1st. That the 
action of the body is regulated by some power or 
agency other than the brain ; 2d. That there is a liv- 
ing, vital agent, independent of, and so far as muscular 
action is concerned, superior to the mind ; and 3d. That 
in Man, and in the higher order of Animals, the princi- 
ple of Life is seated in the solor ganglion, from which 
the nervous system or machinery draws its power of 
motion, and by which it is propelled and governed. 

In speaking, as Doctor S. did, in the highest terms of 
our Dr. Beck's Medical Jurisprudence, he expressed 



396 Thurlow Weed's 

his astonishment that a man so eminently endowed should 
have been content with the useful, but unambitious post 
of Principal of an Academy. If, said Dr. S., "he desires 
neither fortune nor fame as a Practitioner, he ought at 
least to have been placed at the head of an University." 

The more I see of this island the more I respect and 
admire its inhabitants, among whom, irrespective of 
color, the love of kindness has universal sway. You 
neither see nor hear anything of outrage, violence or 
disorder. Of the thirty thousand inhabitants here, 
twenty-five thousand are colored, and comparatively 
ignorant and degraded; and yet crimes and misde- 
meanors are more rare than with the same number of 
people in the best portions of New England. 

The Planters endeavor to render the stay of visitors 
pleasant, by attentions and hospitalities. You are re- 
ceived, in yom - drives through the Island, with the 
utmost cordiality, wherever you stop. Captain Cos- 
toniee, who commands at the Fort here, and Captain 
Strangard, who is in command at Bass End, are 
equally attentive and courteous to Americans. At the 
table of Capt. Costonier the other day, I met, in 
the person of his father-in-law, Roger O'Farrell, 
Chamberlain to the King of Denmark, an accomplished 
gentleman of the "olden time," whose manners and con- 
versation are equally polished and instructive. His 
ancestors were driven by persecution from Ireland to 
Denmark. Mr. O'Farrell was in New York in 1812, 
where a daughter, the wife of a nephew of Field Mar- 
shal Blucher, was bom. The acquaintances he formed 
there have all "shuffled off this mortal coil." A son who 
succeeded to the fortune and title of an aunt, is living 



Letters from the West Indies. 397 

in Paris as Count Mole. Another daughter is the wife 
of an Italian nobleman. His estates (Annally and 
Punch) lie upon high ground about three miles from 
the Sea. The Oranges which I sent home and to New 
York, were from Annally. 

We are about to lose most of our American friends. 
The ship Lesmahagow, of St. Johns, N. B., but now 
from Liverpool, has called for her owner, Mr. Hammond, 
who came, with his family, in the ship Cornelia, to pass 
the winter here. She goes hence to Savannah, taking, 
besides Mr. Hammond (an enterprising and wealthy 
merchant of St. Johns) and family, Dr. Upsom, Mr. and 
Mrs. Baldwin, Mr. and Mrs. Griffin, Mr. Wheeler 
and Mr. Lockwood, of New York, Mr. Hedges of 
Albany, Mr. Child, of Rochester, Mr. Eacker of Mont- 
gomery county, and Mr. Justice of Philadelphia. Dr. 
Upsom came out with us in the Cornelia. He is a gen- 
tleman of great personal and professional worth, and is 
returning, I am happy to say, to his friends, much 
improved in health. Mr. Hedges has not derived the 
benefit he anticipated from a change of climate. Mr. 
Child, with whom we part very reluctantly, is still suf- 
fering with Rheumatism. I had intended to leave in 
the Lesmahagow, but have been detained by an appre- 
hension that invalids, by a too early return, are liable 
to lose all they have gained by a winter's absence. 

The only Americans left will be Mr. and Mrs. Alfred 
Ltvingston, Miss Blackwell and Mrs. Dominick of 
New York, Mr. McMartin, of Wilmington, Del., Mr. 
and Mrs. Van Valkenburgh, of Albany, and ourselves. 
There is also an amiable family, Mr. and Mrs. David, 
from England, who have resided for some years in New 



398 Thuelow Weed's 

York, who were our fellow passengers in the Cornelia, 

and with whom we have been very agreeably associated. 

Mrs. D., though still an invalid, in the hands of Dr. 

Stevens, is gradually improving. 

March 25. 

We have arrivals with newspapers to the 14th inst. 
The Cabinet and Inaugural indicate, as far as I can judge, 
a disposition on the part of the President to act for 
himself. The Treasury ought to be in abler hands, but 
if Mr. Walker is honest, of which there is no reasonable 
doubt, he will do well enough. Buchanan is a safer man 
than Calhoun, for the State Department. The Inaugural, 
but for its false reasoning in regard to Texas, is not very 
exceptionable. Indeed its tone and spirit are elevated and 
conciliatory. If the President will navigate the ship of 
State by this chart he may have a prosperous voyage. 
And having excluded Presidential aspirants from his 
Cabinet, if he sets a one term example, he will entitle 
himself to the lasting gratitude of his countrymen. 

The barque Rosalia, Captain Hill, sailed yesterday 
for Philadelphia, with a full cargo of sugar, molasses, 
&c. Among her passengers is Captain Newton, of the 
Coldstream Guards, who, with his brother, has been 
passing the winter upon their estates in this island. 
Those who make his acquaintance will find him rarely 
endowed with accomplishments and virtues. 

The brig Eliza, Captain Lockwood, which has dis- 
charged and taken in her cargo in a week, sails for New 
York this evening. 

We are looking out for the United States frigate 
Macedonian, Com. Perry, who is to touch here on his 
way home from the coast of Africa. 



Letters from the West Indies. 399 



XII. 

SANTA CRUZ, April 4, 1845. 

The monotony of this Island has been broken by the 
unexpected arrival of three Ships of War. First came 
the United States Frigate Macedonian, Com. Perry, 
who has been relieved from his command of the Afri- 
can Squadron, and is on his way home. Then came 
the French Frigate Andromede, of sixty guns, and the 
Corvette Made, of thirty guns, with Admiral La Place. 
The French ships were preceded by a French steamer 
(the first we have seen here), mounting twelve guns. 

The ships of war, as they approached the island, 
showed to great advantage. The Macedonian, having 
a stiff breeze, came in with but little canvas. Salutes 
were exchanged with the Fort, after which, Mr. Hill, 
the Governor's Aid, went on board to welcome the Com- 
modore to the Island, and invite him to the Government 
House, at Bass End. Early next day, the Steamer 
arrived, and soon afterwards the French Ships hove in 
sight, with all their sails set, and making a splendid 
appearance. The wind blowing from the shore, the 
Frenchmen had to make several tacks to get in. The 
Andromede saluted the Macedonian while the former 
was coming in, and the latter returned the salute while 
the Frenchman was passing her. When she came to 
anchor, salutes were exchanged with the Fort. Mr. 
Hill then went off, in the Governor's name, to wel- 



400 Thurlow Weed's 

come the Admiral. He was accompanied by Captain 
Van Sholten (a brother of the Governor), in whom 
Admiral La Place recognized a former Lieutenant of 
the French navy, who, fifteen years ago, circumnavi- 
gated the globe under his command. Th^ meeting was 
a most gratifying surprise. 

The arrival of these ships puts every thing astir on 
the island. The slaves find a brisk market for their 
vegetables, poultry, eggs, &c. Horses and vehicles are 
in constant demand. The island Ladies, in town and 
upon the estates, are busy at their toilets, in anticipa- 
tion of visits, dinners and balls, &c. 

The ladies of the Rev. Mr. Mines' church had been 
occupied, all winter, with preparations for a Fair, with 
the proceeds of which an Organ is to be purchased, 
which came off, opportunely, the clay after the arrival 
of the Macedonian. The receipts amounted to Si, 120, 
over $1,000 of which was net profit. 

The French and American frigates met, three weeks 
since, at the island of Martinique, where the officers 
exchanged dinners. Admiral La Place and Com. Perry 
are upon very intimate and cordial terms. 

I went on board the Macedonian on Wednesday 
morning, to pay my respects to Com. Perry, with whom 
two hours were passed in agreeable conversation. He 
went out nearly two years since, in command of the 
African Squadron, from which he was relieved by Com. 
Skinner. His cruise, though never a pleasant one, on 
that coast, has been in many respects remarkably fortu- 
nate. Of the thousand men under his command, he has 
lost none by the Fevers so prevalent and fatal in Africa. 
The most danger, he says, is from exposure on shore 



Letters from the West Indies. 401 

after sundown. He avoided this danger, by never 
allowing an officer or man to be on store later than 
foiu* o'clock in the afternoon. The same healthiness 
continues on board his ship, where, with a crew of 450 
men, only three are ill, and those from slight accidents. 

The relief squadron, I am sorry to hear, was far less 
fortunate. On board the Preble, soon after her arrival, 
over one hundred men were down with fever, sixteen of 
whom died. Two promising young officers (Midshipman 
Henry, of Philadelphia, and Midshipman Smith, of 
Salem) died of Fever. Both were much beloved. The 
latter was the "hope and prop" of the widow of Lieut. 
Smith, who was lost in the Homet. He shared his pay 
with his Mother, who needed it the more as her means 
of support had been cut off by the loss of the " Navy 
Pension Fund," which was swallowed up by one of the 
villainous financial " experiments " that disgraced our 
country during the misrule of Jackson and Van Buren. 

Com. Perry was occupied much of the time while 
on the coast of Africa, in placing our missions and col- 
onies in a state of security. They had been subjected 
to many ' annoyances which required attention. He 
speaks in warm terms of the intelligence of many of 
the colonists. 

The Macedonian-, as has already been stated, while 
upon this cruise, passed twice over the equator, and 
stood where there is neither latitude nor longitude. 
She also passed over the spot where she was captured 
by the United States, and the same cannon which then 
endeavored to vindicate England's boast of " Britannia 
rules the waves," were noio made to commemorate their 
own defeat ! But though these cannon were there to 

51 



402 Thurlow "Weed's 

speak, Decatur, and most of the gallant spirits who 
shared with him the dangers and the glory of that con- 
flict, are where even the cannon's voice cannot be heard. 

Captain Abbot, who returns in command of the Mace- 
donian, went out in command of the Decatur, hi which 
vessel he had very active service, having brought her 
to anchor, in out-of-the-way ports, and upon little 
known coasts, one hundred and forty times. When 
Captain Mayo, who went out as captain of the Mace- 
donian, had leave to return, Captain Abbot succeeded 
him. This excellent officer was the Midshipman Abbot 
who, with a small detachment, rendered a most import- 
ant service to the country in destroying the masts of a 
British vessel on Lake Champlain, previous to the action 
which resulted in the capture of the British fleet. But 
for this exploit the British would have been fitted out 
before Com. Macdonough was ready to meet them. By 
thus delaying the equipment of the British fleet, Mac- 
donough was enabled to meet and vanquish him when 
he did come. For this, and his gallantry in the action, 
Congress voted Midshipman Abbot a sword, of which, 
both as an officer and a citizen, he is eminently worthy. 
He is, I believe, a native of Massachusetts. 

On leaving the ship, the Commodore asked us to 
invite the Americans who are staying here, on board, 
and said a boat was at our service either to come on 
board with ladies or to row them about the harbor. In 
the afternoon of that day, I met the Commodore and 
Captain Abbot at the hospitable table of our friend 
Hill, whose dinners have the merit of being not only 
excellent but frequent. 

After dinner yesterday, three of the Macedonian's 



Letters from the West Indies. 403 

boats took a large party of Ladies and Gentlemen off 
to the ship, where we were cordially and kindly received 
by the Officers. Having been shown through the ship, 
and partaken of refreshments, a couple of hours were 
gaily passed in Cotillion and "Waltz. 

The officers seem to be living in great harmony, and 
speak in terms of high respect for their Commodore, of 
whose worth and ability the country has had long and 
varied experience. None pf the dissensions which 
existed in the Exploring Expedition, mar the enjoy- 
ment of the officers belonging to the African Squadron ; 
nor would a three months' Naval Court-Martial, for the 
trial of petty delinquencies and constructive disrespect to 
a superior, have been entailed upon the country, if Perry 
instead of Wilkes, had commanded that Expedition. 

Com. Perry has long been a resident of our State. 
His " Place," with the appropriate name of "Moorings" 
is situated on the bank of the Hudson, between the 
village of Sing Sing and Tarrytown. 

Two of the officers of the Macedonian, Acting Lieut. 
Perry and Midshipman Deslonde, both young men of 
high promise, were with Captain M'Kenzie, in the 
unfortunate Somers, and had but just returned from 
the coast of Africa, when they again sailed for the same 
destination, but with a far more auspicious result. 

Com. Perry, who visited the Governor the day before 
yesterday, returned this morning accompanied by His 
Excellency, who dines this afternoon with Mr. Hill. 
Admiral La Place went on board the Macedonian to- 
day, and was received with the honors due to his rank. 
Captain Von Docken, of the Danish man-of-war brig 
St. Croix, who arrived last night, also visited our Frigate, 



404 Thurlow "Weed's Letters. 

find was received with a salute, as was Captain Cap- 
toniee, who is in command of the Fort here. Com. 
Perry afterwards went on board the French Frigate 
and Danish Brig, where similar honors were paid him ; 
and then Com. Perry fired a salute of fifteen guns in 
honor of the Governor-General. 

The Governor-General gives a dinner at Bass End 
to-morrow and a ball on Monday, in honor of the 
American Commodore and French Admiral. Captain 
Van Sholten gives a dinner on Tuesday and a ball on 
Thursday. There is little else than these entertain- 
ments to be thought or talked of for a week. 

The following list of the ofiicers on board of the 
Macedonian was politely furnished me by Mr. Etting, 
the Purser : 

Joel Abbot, acting Captain, bearing the broad pennant of Commodore M. 
C. Perrt. 

Lieutenants — Chas. A. Poor, Bushrod W. Hunter, Wm. B. Whiting. 

Flag Lieutenant — John J. Almy. 

Acting Lieutenants — Geo. Wells, M. C. Perrt, Jr. 

Master — Joel S. Kennard. 

Fleet Surgeon — Edmund L. Du Barry. 

Purser — Henry Etting. 

Commodore's Secretary — Wm. P. Bodgers. 

Professor of Mathematics — Martin Roche. 

Lieut. Com. Marines — J. C. Rich. 

Assistant Surgeons — Josh. Huntington, Chas. Evorsfield. 

Commodore's Clerk — Wm. F. Perry. 

Captain's Clerk — John P. Abbott. 

Purser's Clerk — Aug. D. Ashton. 

Passed Midshipmen — John F. Abbot, Alphonse Barbot. 

Midshipmen — Peter Wager, Jr., Arch. H. Waring, Wingate Pilsbury, 
Joseph Seatvell, Wm. E. Austin, Wm. Mitchell, Adrian Deslonde. 

Boatswain — John Mills. 

Gunner — John Clapham. 

Carpenter — Amos Chick. 

Sail Maker — Wm. H. Brayton. 

Purser's Mate — Wm. Beers. 

Master's Mate — Joseph Vanness. 



LETTERS 



FEOM EUEOPE 



1851-2. 



LETTEE8. 



STEAMER BALTIC, December 6, 1851. 

Thousands have admired the exceeding beauty of form 
and finish of the Steamer Baltic, for in this respect she 
is unsurpassed. But she has higher and nobler quali- 
ties. In her construction the Architect, while preserv- 
ing her " line of beauty," has given her bearings which 
combine herculean strength with the utmost attainable 
speed. 

The Baltic is of three thousand tons burthen. Her 
ponderous Engines, Boilers, &c, &c, weigh one thou- 
sand tons. She usually takes thirteen hundred tons of 
Coal, though some nine hundred tons are sufficient for 
an ordinary voyage. This leaves room for seven 
hundred tons freight, and when thus laden she draws 
nineteen feet water. 

The Crew consists of a Captain, four Mates, four 
Quartermasters, two Boatswains, Purser, Surgeon, 
twenty Seamen, and two Boys. 

In the Engine Department there is a Chief and Six 
Assistant Engineers, with twenty-four Firemen and 
twenty-four Coal Passers. 

In the Culinary Department there is a Steward, two 
Stewardesses, six Cooks, and a Butcher, with forty 
Pantry and State Room Servants. 



408 Thtjelow Weed's 

Now, witli the Steward's permission, let us look into 
his Larder. The "stores" for a voyage consists of 
2,000 lbs. of Crew Beef, 1,500 lbs. Prime do., 250 lbs. 
Veal, 250 lbs. Pork, 400 lbs. Mutton, 200 lbs. Lamb, 
100 lbs. Sausages, 25 Sweetbreads, 6 Pigs, 12 Kidneys, 
50 lbs. Tripe, 6 Livers, 12 Ox Tails, 6 Calves' Heads, 
12 Calves' feet, 30 Turkeys, 30 Geese, 60 Ducks, 170 
Chickens, 60 Pigeons, 24 Grouse, 24 Rabbits, 12 
Hares, 4,000 Eggs, 600 quarts Milk, 100 lbs. Codfish, 
50 Haddock, 136 Lobsters, 100 bushels Potatoes, 2 
barrels Turnips, 100 heads Cabbage, 200 do. Celery, 
Onions, Cauliflowers, Horse Radish, &c, &c, &c, 70 
lbs. Figs, 40 lbs. Prunes, 6 Wiltshire, 4 Stilton, and 2 
Cheshire Cheeses, 6 kegs Butter, 25 barrels Flour, &c, 
&c, together with ample " Reserved Stores " in case of 
accident. 

The principal articles of Freight now on board are 
3,000 boxes Cheese, 127 Tierces Lard, 200 boxes 
Bacon, 500 barrels Apples, 41 boxes India Rubber, and 
$1,500,000 in Specie. 

The Baltic makes Sixteen Passages a year. Her 
average time, so far, has been 10J days. She is usually 
in the best running condition on the fifth day of her 
Passage, when, with fair weather, she accomplishes 
from 300 to 350 miles every twenty-four hours. 

We encountered a Gale from the Northwest while 
on the Banks of Newfoundland, which continued with 
great severity for thirty-six hours. For several hours 
the ship was kept on her course, but the Seas began to 
run so tremendously that she was eased by running 
more to the Southward until the gale moderated. The 
Officers said that they rarely saw a heavier sea. The 



Letters from Europe. 409 

waves towered up over the wheelhouses, and sometimes 
in laying on the side of a wave the wheelhouse would 
be submerged. But she rode over all gallantly, glanc- 
ing rather than shipping seas. Indeed her decks, 
unlike most other steamers, are rarely wet by the sea. 
And during the whole Gale, while under the pressure 
of three powerful elements — viz., wind, waves, and 
steam — -she was as obedient to the helm as a Pilot 
Boat, one man only being required at the wheel. 

But the Sea does not always frown. We had, on 
the whole, fair weather and a most agreeable Passage. 
The Sofas, Lounges, &c, &c, in the Baltic, do much 
to while away time. There is, also, every conceivable 
comfort for the Sick, and every attainable luxury for 
those who are well. Her fare is bountiful and luxurious. 
Breakfast, consisting of all that the appetite, whether 
sharp or dainty, can desire, is on the Table from 8 to 
11. At 12 comes a Lunch of Soups, Meats, Cheese, Sar- 
dines, &c, &c. At 4 we are summoned to a Dinner as 
admirably cooked, as tastefully served, and as various in 
courses as any that can be furnished at our best Hotels 
on shore. Then comes Tea at 7 o'clock, and Supper 
for those who want it at any time between 10 and 12. 

The Evenings pass pleasantly in conversation and 
with music. 

On Sunday, just after the Gale, notice was given for 
the Passengers to assemble for Divine Service at 12 
o'clock. The Service of the Church of England was 
read, impressively, by James Lawrence, Esq. (Son of 
our Minister to England), and an appropiate Senuon 
was read by Mr. Joseph Peabodt, of Salem. There is 
a peculiar solemnity in these occasions. The Ocean 



410 Thurlow Weed's 

drives us to self-examination. Man, thousands of miles 
from land, upon the fathomless deep, realizes his de- 
pendence, his nothingness. I have listened heretofore, 
at Sea, to eloquent Bishops and pious Divines, but in 
their absence the Scriptures may be read and the Ser- 
vices of the Church observed, profitably, by Laymen. 

Our Passage had but few incidents. The most pain- 
ful was the loss of a man overboard. We were star- 
tled one evening by a piercing shriek, and then a cry 
on deck which was at first mistaken for Fire ! Soon, 
however, this was corrected by that of " A Man Over- 
board." The Engines were immediately stopped and 
the Sailors rushed to the small Boats, but on inquiring 
it was ascertained that the unfortunate Man was half a 
mile or more astern, and as the small Boats were in 
danger of being swamped, thus periling other lives 
without any possibility of saving his, Capt. Comstock 
decided to go on. 

The lost man was a " Coal Passer" who had been ill 
and partially deranged through the day, though his 
case had not been reported to the Captain. He had 
been reading the Bible and Praying, and finally took 
leave of his companions, who did not, however, appre- 
hend such a fatal step. He came up from below, went 
upon the guards and plunged into the Sea. A Sailor 
saw him jump, but instead of giving the alarm immedi- 
ately, ran to the stern of the Ship and endeavored to 
throw a Preserver. Some Passengers did throw out 
Preservers, but not until the poor fellow had been 
swept beyond then' reach. And so the deep Sea swal- 
lowed him up ! His name was Smith, of New York, 
where his Parents reside. 



Letters from Europe. 411 

It is wonderful to witness the accuracy with which 
nautical men measure distances and determine localities 
on the Ocean. We had been ten days at Sea, and much 
of the time in thick weather, off our course for more 
than 1,000 miles, and running by dead reckoning until 
12 o'clock yesterday, when the officers got an observa- 
tion. At half-past six I was sitting with Capt. Comstock, 
who said we are now within twenty-five miles of Cape 
Clear, and shall make the Light (pointing in the direc- 
tion) there away, before 7 o'clock. All were now on 
the look-out, and ten minutes before 7 the light appeared, 
twinkling at first like a small star in the firmament. 
Cape Clear Light revolves eveiy 2J minutes, and is 
thus distinguished from other Lights. Captain Popham, 
though an excellent officer, strangely mistook this Light 
a few years ago, for that of Crook Haven, a few miles 
North, and ran the fine Packet Ship Stephen Whitney 
upon a reef of rocks, where she broke and went to 
pieces, all on board, except the first mate, perishing. 

Entering Cape Clear, our Steamer glided up the 
Channel at the rate of fourteen knots an hour, hugging 
the Lrish Coast. We passed near Courtmacsherry, where 
I landed in 1843, and which called up agreeable 
recollections. 

To-day we had our last Dinner on board the Baltic, 
which was a sumptuous one. Mr. Lawrence, prefaced 
by some appropriate remarks, offered a sentiment com- 
plimentary to Capt. Comstock, which was received with 
heartfelt enthusiasm, after which the Captain was 
called from his duty on deck long enough to make his 
acknowledgments in the handsomest and most appro- 
priate manner and language. Brief remarks were 



412 Thurlow Weed's 

made by other Passengers, among- whom was Majrtin 
I. Townsend, of Teoy, who dwelt upon the character 
of our Institutions, the progress of improvement and 
the destiny of our Country, closing with a senti- 
ment in remembrance of the Homes and Hearts that 
followed us with their hopes and their fears across the 
Atlantic. 

At 9 o'clock we reached Liverpool, when all the Pas- 
sengers but ourselves were impatient to get on shore. 
Custom House officers came oft* to the Ship, and then an 
amusing scene followed. Some went peering about the 
Ship after secreted Tobacco, while others dipped into 
Passengers' trunks, pouncing upon and weighing all 
dutiable articles. The examination closed about 11 
o'clock, when the Passengers, on leaving in a Tug, gave 
three hearty cheers for Capt Comstock, who responded 
to them by a salute from the Ship's cannon. 

The Baltic and her consorts of the Collins Line, are 
vessels which challenge the world's admiration. In 
model, strength and speed, as in finish, furniture and 
attendance, they are all that capital, enterprise, genius 
and taste can make them. As a feature in Steam Com- 
mercial Marinej they are in advance even of an age that 
seems to leave nothing unaccomplished. England and 
Franco led the w r ay in Ocean Steamers, and for a while 
" Jonathan " mused and whittled. Then dashing into 
the field, two years brought us up to our great National 
ancestors and rivals ; and now our Steamers, like* our 
Packet Ships and Man-of- Wars-Men, in the Channels, 
Rivers and Harbors of England, stand up and out in 
strong and beautiful contrast with the noblest and 
proudest creations of the Old World. 



Letters from Europe. 413 

And Capt. Comstock is not only capable but worthy 
of just such a command. He commenced his career 
with a good education, before the mast, his first voyage 
round the world occupying four years. He was then 
for some years Mate of a Packet Ship, and for the last 
fifteen years Master of the fine Steamers running 
through the Sound. "With the principles of Steam Nav- 
igation he has, therefore, been long practically familiar. 
And in judgment, temper and vigilance he can have 
few, if any superiors. His discipline, though no duty is 
neglected, and every order is obeyed promptly, is 
remarkably quiet. No loud voices are heard and no 
impatience manifested. Nobody's " eyes " are " damned," 
and you neither see nor hear' of any "lubbers" among 
the crew. The result of all this is that the crew do 
their work well and cheerfully. All passes so noise- 
lessly that a Passenger remarked that the " Baltic com- 
manded herself." In a word, the Baltic and her 
Commander are Models, as those who have had experi- 
ence of both very gratefully affirm. 

I suffered, as usual, from Sea Sickness, but those suf- 
ferings bore no resemblance to the horrors my brother 
Greeley described. What a horrible account he gave 
of " Life on the Ocean Wave !" They told me on 
board the Baltic that while deathly sick, but keeping 
the deck, a heavy man, as the ship lurched, trampled on 
Mr. Greeley's toes, but immediately apologized. The 
sea sick man replied, " Don't speak of it, sir. I am 
rather obliged to you for affording me momentary 
relief from a misery worse than having my corns 
excoriated." 



414 Thurlow "Weed's 



II. 

LONDON, December 9, 1851. 

Several kind friends, before our departure, instead of 
congratulating themselves upon a release, insisted that 
I should keep up a rambling correspondence. The 
American Press has been so abundantly supplied for a 
year or two with " European Letters," many of which 
were excellent, that even good ones must begin to tax 
the public patience, while indifferent ones, almost ne- 
cessarily upon exhausted topics, cannot fail to be tedious. 
I know that the readers of the Evening Journal are 
among the best tempered people in America, but I do 
not like to impose too far on then- good nature. They 
pay for wheat, and ought not to be put off with chaff. 

There is, even in this busy, sight-seeing portion of 
the world, leisure for reflection, and when I think, I am 
strongly moved to write. The danger is that this 
propensity may lead me to write without thinking. 
But if I should finally decide to let my pen go, I will 
endeavor to stop it when there is nothing to say. 

The aspects of England have greatly changed since 
I saw her eight years ago. This change is apparent 
everywhere, and in all you see. It is a change vastly 
for the better. England is now prosperous. Her 
Commerce thrives. Her Manufacturing interests are 
in a healthy state. Her Agriculture, though the Land- 
lord does not get as large profits as formerly, diffuses a 



Letters from Europe. 415 

wide-spread prosperity throughout the Kingdom. The 
English Nation is now better fed and better clothed 
than it has been at any time for fifty years. There is 
a destitution and suffering, as must needs be, but it is 
greatly diminished in extent and squalor. Instead, 
therefore, of having, as many supposed, enjoyed all 
there was for her of " rise and progress," England is 
going on with giant strides to increased power and 
wealth, greatness and munificence. 

Much of this prosperity is of course the fruits of a 
long Peace. But not all. England has been, for fif- 
teen or more years, wisely governed. The " Iron 
Duke," the late Sir Robert Peel, Lord John Russell, 
Lord Aberdeen, &c, &c, are enlightened and patriotic 
Statesmen. The Queen, " take her all in all," has 
qualities which render her a blessing to the English 
Nation. With a knowledge which enables her to dis- 
criminate between good and bad measures, and a fac- 
ulty to surround herself with experienced and upright 
Counselors, she steadily exerts her power to uphold 
the right. It is the opinion of the wisest men here 
that no King, however able, could have reigned as 
usefully as has Queen Victoria. 

When here before, I was struck by the circumstance 
that London had, in the sense we understood the term, 
no suburbs; that there were no miserable shanties or 
windowless huts, and no starving women or ragged 
children upon the outskirts of the City. The grounds 
are highly cultivated, and everything looks most 
palmy, up to the Gas-Lights. The reason did not 
then occur to me, though it is apparent enough. The 
land is too valuable to be thus wasted. Every avail- 



416 Thuelow Weed's 

able rod or foot is needed for cultivation. They cannot 
afford to let the idle and vicious, or even the unfor- 
tunate, vegetate where Vegetables can be grown. The 
poor and the destitute, along with the profligate and 
pestilential, are driven into the heart of the City, to 
tenant cellars and garrets in Lanes and Courts. 

And in one respect there is a marked difference in 
the Agricultural Districts of England and America. 
Heretofore our Farmers had few or no high-blooded 
Animals. They could not afford to purchase " Dur- 
hams" and "Herefords" and " Southdowns," &c, &c. 
With us grain was cheap, and we could best afford to 
fatten common herds. But here nothing pays but 
blooded stock — the purest paying the best. The 
English cannot afford to pay anything for bones, legs, 
snouts, and ears. They go for flesh, and they get it, 
too, with the smallest possible proportion of bone or 
garbage. There is but precious little " coarse meat " 
in John Bull's Beef and Mutton. 

The topic discussed everywhere, and by all classes 
here, just now, is the usurpation of Lotns Napoleon, 
though there is scarcely any difference of opinion. 
All agree in regarding his conduct as perfidious, and 
all unite in denouncing him, the " Morning Post" 
excepted. It is supposed here that Louis Napoleon 
has secured the Army by promising it occupation ; 
that wars will be waged as soon as he has " conquered 
the prejudices" of the French People. A very well 
informed English gentleman informs me, on what he 
regards as unquestionable authority, that even before 
tins Usurpation the French President had consulted 
his Ministers in regard to the Programme of a War, 



Letters from Europe. 417 

and that they had great difficulty, after the Command- 
ing Generals had advised against it without further 
preparation, to induce a postponement of the design. 
If this be so, it is evident that Louis Napoleon 
intends to "follow in the footsteps of his Illustrious 
Predecessor." 

The French People are either overawed by the Army, 
or they are willing to purchase repose at any sacrifice. 
But how long this state of things can last, is a problem 
that must solve itself. The Prince De Joinville and 
the Duke DAumaile, as you will see, have their eyes 
turned in that direction. They hope for a reversal in 
favor of their House. But that branch of the Bourbon 
Family, however popular once, made a "very bad fail- 
ure," and are utterly discredited now. 

Kossuth is now, I suppose, in America. He created 
a stir here, and is regarded as a man of decided ability. 
But he has no thought of retirement or repose. He is 
cast for a Part in the World's Drama, and means "to 
play out the Play." "With a temperature which requires 
action, I do not believe he will content himself long in 
America, especially if events in the Old World should 
invite his return. 

The Queen, with her Court, is at the Isle of Wight, 
and London is now out of town. Our Minister, Mr. 
Lawrence, is at his post. He resides in Piccadilly, 
fronting St. James Park, with the Duke of Wellington 
for his near neighbor on one side, and the great heiress, 
Miss Burdett Coutts, on the other. He has sustained 
himself, officially, personally and socially, most credita- 
bly. With the Grovernment, the Nobility and with his 
Countrymen, he is universally popular. He went, a 

53 



418 Thurlow "Weed's 

few weeks ago, with Mrs. Lawrence, for relaxation, to 
Ireland; but his visit proved one of deep interest and 
severe toil. No American Minister had ever visited 
Ireland. Where so much American feeling exists, it 
was an event of more than ordinary importance. The 
Minister was received everywhere, and by all classes, 
with marked enthusiasm. He visited Dublin, Galway, 
Limerick, Cork, &c, &c, receiving public demonstrations 
from the authorities of those cities, and attentions from 
the Nobility and Gentry. This gave him favorable 
opportunities for ascertaining the condition, resources 
and wants of the Island. Since he returned he has, I 
am informed, addressed a Despatch on the subject to 
our Government. 

The Hon. Robert J. Walker, who is rightfully 
regarded as the Father of the Tariff of 1846, is receiv- 
ing marked attentions here — attentions to which he is 
well entitled, for England is now profiting largely by 
the Policy of the Polk Administration. The British 
Manufacturers are reaping, and will continue to reap, a 
rich harvest from the Tariff of '46. They paid, if what 
I hear be true, handsomely for that Tariff, but it is 
repaying them, in its operation, fiftyfold. England, 
after adhering for centuries to a rigidly restrictive 
Policy, has attained a position which enables her, with 
her superabundant capital and cheap labor, to become 
the World's work-shop. There is a fable, I believe, of a 
Fox who having lost his own Tail, persuaded his friends 
that Tails were quite useless. England has got to the 
end of Protection, and is now endeavoring to persuade 
America, a Nation that possesses, like England, all the 
elements required for Manufacturing independence, that 



Letters from Europe. 419 

as she can Manufacture for us cheaper, we should 
' abandon the Protective Policy ! She does not tell us, 
however, that when, deluded by the popular theory of 
"Free Trade," we shall have withdrawn the pressure 
of American competition, John Bull, generous as he is, 
will constdt his own rather than our interests, in his prices. 

I do not urge a High Tariff. We collect quite 
revenue enough now. But let us have a discriminating 
duty, with one eye to Revenue and another to Protec- 
tion, keeping the latter eye a little widest open. I 
hope to see the closest commercial relations cherished 
and perpetuated between England and America. We 
want much that she makes, and she needs some things 
— considerable, indeed — of what we produce. But 
when the balance of trade is so much against us as to 
require the shipment of nearly a million of dollars a 
week, making some fifty millions a year, I venture to 
hazard the opinion that we cannot stand it long. 

I met Ex-Secretary Walker at the House of an 
English friend the evening before we went to Manches- 
ter. He is even more zealous than when in the 
Treasury Department for Free Trade, insisting that our 
true interests lay in that direction. It was urged, he 
said, that the Tariff of 1846 would break down the Iron 
interests, and yet Pittsburg, the only exclusively 
Iron Working City in the Union, was never so prosper- 
ous. But he very frankly admitted that this was 
owing principally to the fact that the raw material was 
obtained at rates so low that it was destructive to that 
interest, which is a large and important one. 

In the course of the conversation I alluded to the 
amount of Duty I paid on some segars, remarking that in 



420 Thurlow Weed's 

this respect, at least, trade did not appear to be remark- 
ably Free. Tbat, he said, was a point to which he had 
determined to call the attention of this Government. 
The dnty on Tobacco, he agreed was most onerous. 

I have been struck afresh, with the number and 
amplitude of the Parks and Squares of London. They 
are a most important feature, and one that should be 
better observed in American Cities. The future will be 
filled with unavailing regrets at the want of attention to 
such interests, with which the health and happiness of 
Cities are so intimately blended. Beside those great 
breathing places, Hyde, Regent, Queen and St. James 
Parks, there are Squares in front of nearly all the resi- 
dences of Noblemen. 

I was quite fortunate in the Canvas Back ducks that 
I brought over for some friends. Four Brace went to 
the American minister, three brace to Mr. George Pea- 
body, three Brace to Joseph Parkes, Esq., and three 
Brace to Mr. Steele, of Manchester. Mr. Lawrence 
divided with the Duke of Wellington, Mr. Peabody 
sent some to Mr. Sturges, of the House of Baring, 
Brothers, & Co., and Mr. Parkes divided with other 
friends. Mr. Lawrence tells me that he never eat them 
in finer order even in Washington. The Duke was 
delighted with this specimen of Yankee Game. I par- 
took of them myself at the hospitable tables of Mr. 
Peabody (the "American Merchant Prince"), and of Mr. 
Parkes, and certainly never eat finer ones at the Astor 
House or at Barnum's. Ducks, therefore, shot in the 
Chesapeake Bay on the 21st day of November, were, on 
the 7th of December, gracing the best Tables in London, 
having traveled 3,600 miles. So much for Steam and Ice. 



Letters from Europe. 421 

We attended the Annual Cattle Show in Baker 
street to-day. It was a splendid Show of Cattle, Sheep 
and Swine. The Cattle were principally of the Dur- 
ham and Hereford Breed ; the Sheep South Downs and 
Leicesters. I will not attempt to describe them. Speci- 
mens, " few and far between," have been seen in Amer- 
ica ; but here were hundreds of Animals as perfect and 
pure as blood and high feeding could make them. The 
highest Prize awarded for Cattle, was Forty pounds, 
with ten pounds for the Feeder. The Duke of Rich- 
mond took the first Prize (twenty pounds) for South 
Down Sheep. The attendance of Ladies and Gentle- 
men was very large. 

On Sunday, we attended Divine Service in Westmin- 
ster Abbey, where a large congregation were worshiping 
the Ever-Living amid the monumental remains of the 
Illustrious Dead. We sat in the immediate vicinity of 
Tablets and Portraits to Shakspeare, Dryden, Addison, 
Barrow, GtOldsmith, Handel, John, Duke of Argyle, 
&c. The scene added solemnity to the services. 



422 Thuelow Weed's 



III. 

FOLKSTONE, December 13, 1851. 

I intended to gossip through another sheet about 
London, but some interruptions broke me off, though 
I am not sure that you will escape an infliction, for I 
am here so cozily " in mine Inn," with nothing to do, 
that I find myself Pen in hand almost unconsciously. 
John Bull is becoming better acquainted with Jona- 
than, and begins to appreciate his qualities. Our 
Packet Ships and Steamers have done much for us as 
a Nation. Mr. Stevens' Yacht America achieved still 
more. Indeed John has not recovered from his amaze- 
ment at that result. But he took his defeat like a 
Gentleman, as he is. Then we have sent over two fast 
Nags, " Pigeon" and " Fanny Jenks." The latter, I 
believe, was raised by our old Whig friend Jenks, of 
West Troy. There are, among the " oldest inhabitants," 
other recollections of which I need not speak. Alto- 
gether we are getting a respectable position in Eng- 
land. Let me give a practical illustration. There is 
one Barber in a dozen streets surrounding St. James 
Palace. He has about as many wigs to dress as 
Caxon, who did these honors for " Mr. Wardour " and 
" Mr. Oldbuck." But I was, for a week, the only indi- 
vidual who required his services as Knight (and this 
was his name) of the Razor and Strop. He said he 
had heard that Gentlemen did not Shave themselves in 



Letters from Europe. 423 

America. I informed him that his Profession thrives 
with us. When he asked if wo had English Han- 
dressers, I replied that most of our barbers were 
French and Italian, though some Englishmen were 
doing well. And he said, " I suppose, after a while, 
the Natives learn to Shave very well." 

You will see in the London Times of the 12th inst. 
a very marked article anticipating events which may 
place England and America in a League to defend 
Constitutional Freedom against the encroachments of 
Despotism from combined Europe. In that article a 
mighty part is cast for us in the "World's Drama. 
There is, doubtless, a pregnant future for America ; 
but her career will, I trust, be a peaceful one. Our 
truest happiness and greatest glory can be achieved 
by a pacific Policy. 

The Crystal Palace stands in all its exterior mag- 
nificence. England alone could have conceived and 
fashioned such a structure. And now, the purpose of 
its construction having been accomplished, what is to 
be done with it ? It is a pity to demolish such a beau- 
tiful edifice. 

I was surprised to learn that Lots in the vicinity of 
the Bank of England and the Royal Exchange were 
less valuable than in Wall street. Rents, except in the 
most fashionable quarters, are about the same as in 
New York. 

The State Department, in pursuance of a Resolution 
of Congress, has addressed Circular Letters to Ameri- 
can Ministers and Consuls, inquiring the expense of 
living. Mr. Lawrence answers, not by saying what it 
costs him to live in London, because he fortunately is 



424 Thuelow Weed's 

able to support any style that he chooses, but by 
showing what it costs an American Minister to live 
respectably, ending with a conclusion that the present 
Salary is not quite half adequate. Mr. L. pays $6,000 
a year for House rent, and over 81,000 for Carriages, 
Horses, Coachmen, &c. This leaves but 83,000 for all 
other expenses. 

All who come to London find it a very expensive 
City. Money finds its way out of your pockets with 
wonderful facility. A Guinea changed is a Guinea 
spent. But we found one remarkable exception. We 
took rooms, at the suggestion of our fellow Passenger, 
Mr. James Laweence, at Christie's Hotel, in St. James 
street. This, you know, is in a most desirable West End 
quarter quite convenient to Oxford and Regent streets, 
with Piccadilly on the one hand and Pall Mall on the 
other, St. James Palace being within forty rods, and 
Buckingham Palace within a quarter of a mile. At 
this Hotel, where we lived a week, with excellent attend- 
ance and capital fare, our expenses, including Servants, 
was less than they would have been at any first class 
Hotel in Philadelphia, New York or Boston. But this, 
I say, is an exception, for on comparing bills to-day 
with two young Gentlemen from the South who came 
over with us in the Baltic, and who stayed at " Long's 
Hotel" the same number of days, we found that it cost 
them (two) 816 more than we (four) paid at Cheistie's. 

Yesterday one of the Fogs we had read of enshroud- 
ed London. All day, lights were as indispensable as at 
night. You could not see from the sidewalk half way 
across the street. The Thames Steamers did not run, 
and those destined to move to distant points could not 



Letters prom Europe. 425 

depart. The London papers say that there had not 
been so dense a Fog for seven or eight years. 

"We left London at half past 4 o'clock for Paris, via 
Folkstone, Boulogne, Amiens, &c. But the fog pre- 
vented our seeing anything of the Country through 
which we passed. Folkstone is eighty-four miles from 
London, a distance which we ran in two hours and a 
half, finding at the terminus a very excellent Hotel, the 
Pavilion. 

The Folkstone of the days before Railways were in- 
vented, was an old Town inhabited by Fishermen, and 
had been finished at least a century ago. But Rail- 
ways have given it a new impulse and are building up 
a New Town as a Rival to Dover, a place that had been 
for a long time quite finished also. The Railway and 
Steamer Fare, from London to Paris (262 miles) is 
£2 10s., or $12.50. 

As we are neither bearing Despatches from the Gov- 
ernment, nor acting as agents for Livingston & Wells, 
we concluded not to run Express to Paris. We, there- 
fore, left those who choose to go on in the night to 
their enjoyment, while we sat down to a capital Dinner, 
after which I repaired to the "Coffee-room" to study 
John Bull, solus, by his glass of Ale, his pot of Stout, 
or his hot water, sugar and whiskey, digesting his Din- 
ner and the Times newspaper. By-and-bye comes a 
fat, fussy Gentleman, who gets up a dish of French 
politics, and then all pitch into Louis Napoleon right 
and left. 

To-morrow we cross the Channel to Boulogne, where 
we intend to remain until Monday. 

54 



426 Thuelow Weed's 



IV. 

BOULOGNE, December 14, 1851. 

We left Folkstone at 12 o'clock yesterday in a very 
finely modeled Steamer (unlike those so long in use 
here), with the advantage of a pleasant day and a calm 
sea, which enabled us all to keep the deck watching the 
receding chalk cliffs of Eng-land until the corresponding 
ones of France were discerned. 

As a large share of the World's commerce passes 
through this Channel, numerous Merchantmen were 
constantly in sight. But how the face of things, in this 
respect, has changed? Up to the year 1807, England 
was constantly struggling with some or all the maritime 
nations of Europe for the Supremacy of the Seas ; and 
in these Straits many of the most sanguinary Naval 
Engagements were fought. Blood enough has been 
shed in this channel to crimson its waters. If the Sea 
could give up its Spoils what Fleets of clumsy, lumber- 
ing ships-of-war would rise to the surface l 

It is thirty-nine miles from Folkstone to Boulogne. 
We ran over in two horns. In entering this Harbor 
we passed over an hundred and fifty fishing Smacks, 
each manned with from a dozen to twenty Frenchmen, 
all talking loud and vehemently. The Smacks were 
taking advantage of the tide to get to Sea. Boulogne, 
always extensively engaged in Fishing, has increased 
this traffic largely since she has a railway to Albyville, 



Letters from Europe. 427 

Amiens and Paris. They take Cod, Haddock, Turbot 
and Sole, with a fish slightly resembling, though much 
inferior, to the White Fish of our Lakes, together with 
Herring and Sprats. They have, also, Mackerel fish- 
eries, but they produce none of "No. 1." The Bass 
and Black Fish are not taken here. The Turbot, to 
my taste, is not what is claimed for it ; but the Sole is 
delicious. 

Of the thirty thousand inhabitants of Boulogne, eight 
thousand are English. "It is quite ridiculous," said a 
sprightly little girl who came to us with her Father, 
"to see what mobs of English one meets in Boulogne." 

There are several excellent schools here, and many 
English people, in moderate circumstances, come to 
educate their children. We made acquaintance with 
one of this class (Capt. Pageot, a half-pay officer of 
the British Navy) and his amiable Family, who very 
kindly showed us Lions and civilities. Many decayed 
gentlemen also come to nurse their gout and replenish 
their Exchequer; and a still larger number come to 
avoid the importunities of creditors. It has been a 
resort, too, from an early period, for needy Authors and 
Artists. Le Sage, the author of Gil Bias, and Church- 
ill, the Poet, died here ; and I believe that Campbell, 
whose polished lines, like Powers's statuary, set criti- 
cism at defiance, lived for many years, and finally died 
here. An old gentleman informs me, also, that Sir 
Walter Scott, on his way back from Italy, yielded up 
his great and gifted spirit in Boulogne, though I had no 
such recollection. 

The old Town of Boulogne is encircled by a wall 
built by the Romans. Immense Armies have been 



428 Thurlow Weed's 

concentrated liere, first by Caligula, then by Henry 
VIII, and then by Napoleon, that of the latter, in 
1803, numbering 180,000, the different divisions com- 
manded by Marshals Soult, Davoust, Ney and Victor. 
He also had 2,400 Boats here, with which he intended 
to invade England. While here, the Army devoted a 
day's pay from each month to erect a magnificent 
Column, surmounted with a Statue of the then First 
Consul. Marshal Soult laid the Corner Stone in 1804. 
But it was unfinished when Napoleon first abdicated, 
and Louis XVIII resumed the work, intending it to 
commemorate the restoration of the Bourbons. He was 
also compelled to fly before its completion, and after 
the Revolution of 1830, it was again resumed, and 
finally completed according to the original plan. It is 
a splendid Monument, on the base of which are bas re- 
liefs, in bronze, of the General Officers of his Army 
submitting to Bonaparte a Plan of the Column, and a 
group representing the first presentation of the Legion 
of Honor, which took place then and here. 

We attended service in an English Chapel this morn- 
ing, three of which are well attended here. Strangers 
pay a franc each for tickets, without which it would be 
difficult to pay the incidental expenses. 

Russell, the Vocalist, has purchased a Mansion here 
with pleasant grounds, as a permanent residence for his 
Family. Having known Mrs. Russell in Albany, we 
called in the Evening and passed an hour agreeably 
with her. Mr. R. has been, and continues, successful 
in his Profession. He is now in London. 



Letters from Europe. 429 

Paris, December 15. 

We left Boulogne at 10 a. m. this morning, and 
arrived here at 5 p. m. The Railway passes for twenty 
miles along the Coast, and then strikes off through a 
fertile and well cultivated country, interspersed every 
few miles with ancient Chateaux, with Tower and Turret, 
and Villas of thatched Cottages. The Cabbage, Tur- 
nip and Beet crops remain in the ground. The 
Turnips are turned out in furrows as they are wanted 
by the Cattle and Sheep. Most of the Farms were 
Ploughed and most of the labor was performed by 
Women. Abundant crops of Wheat and Hay had evi- 
dently been gathered. 

The train stopped half an hour at Amiens, which 
gave us time to take Coffee and glance at the old 
Cathedral which was erected in the 13th Century, and 
is one of the noblest edifices in Europe. Among its 
sepulchral relics is the Head of John the Baptist (as is 
believed), brought here by the Crusaders. Here, in 
1802, the Treaty of Amiens was signed by Joseph 
Bonaparte (now Governor of the Hospital of Invalids) 
on the part of France, and Lord Cornwallis on the part 
of England. Peter the Hermit was here. Amiens has 
50,000 inhabitants. Its Railway Station and Depot is 
the most graceful structure of the kind I have ever seen. 

It is a luxury to travel on such a Railway. The Car 
designed for eight Passengers would not escape with 
less than twelve on our Roads. The feet are warmed 
by hot water in tanks. The track is so solid and 
smooth that you scarcely realize that you are moving. 
But how the Road pays its Stockholders, or even its 
expenses, with two trains a day conveying from fifty to 



430 Thurlow Weed's 

seventy -five Passengers, not half of whom go in the 
first-class Cars, I cannot conjecture. It may do a large 
freight business, though we saw but one Freight Train 
between Boulogne and Paris. 

Paris is tranquil and looks cheerful. Infantry Guards 
are stationed at all the Theatres, Hotels, &c, &c, and 
Cavalry patrol the City during the night. Many 
strangers have left, and the Hotels are quite deserted. 
At Meueice's, where there are usually 150 to 200 Guests, 
there are now only some forty, and at the Hotel de Lille 
de Albion, where we lodge, there is but a dozen. John 
James, with his Son, and Doctor Howard Townsend, 
are the only Albanians here. 



Letters feom Europe. 431 



V. 

PARIS, December 21, 1851. 

The People of France are now deciding the question, 
by Ballot, whether Louis Napoleon shall be their 
Ruler for ten years. Or rather they are ratifying the 
act by which he declared himself Supreme. I have 
been yesterday and to-day to the Polls in several of the 
Districts. Inspectors and Clerks preside as with us ; 
and each Elector takes with him the evidence that he is 
a Voter. A man stands at the entrance of each Poll 
distributing Ballots (one of which I inclose) and for 
this he is paid by the Government. Each poll is pro- 
tected by two Sentinels. The question is decided by 
"Yes" and "No." Tickets with "Yes" only are 
printed, so that those who vote " No " write their bal- 
lots. There is no other Candidate, and there will, it is 
supposed, be but few negative Votes. Instead, there- 
fore, of an independent expression of public sentiment, 
it is but an act of acquiescence, constrained or otherwise, 
in the usurpation of Napoleon II. 

Such of the French People as you hear talk on the 
subject are in favor of the change. This grows out of 
a desire for some form of Government that is strong 
enough to give repose and security. And so long as 
the Army is with Napoleon they feel sure of both, 
while without this conservative (!) influence, it is said, 
all would go wrong. There is, how rightfully I will 



432 Thurlow Weed's 

not undertake to say, a great dread of Socialism here. 
It is not believed that Society can be reformed upon 
that plan. It is difficult to " conquer the prejudices," to 
reform the habits, and subdue the passions of ages. 
However attractive as a theory, most people doubt 
whether such a reconstruction of society is practicable. 
The system would stand a better chance, or at least a 
fairer experiment could be made, by commencing with 
a community whose habits of civilization are unformed. 
There is, also, among the Aristocracy of France, a 
systematic effort making to cure the working classes, 
especially of Paris, of then penchant for Republicanism. 
Paris, since the downfall of Louis Phillippe, has lost 
its accustomed gaities. The Fetes, the Balls, &c, &c, 
&c, that formerly rendered the City so attractive, have 
been discontinued. The Nobility and Aristocracy live 
cheap, pm'chasing as little as possible of shopkeepers, 
and giving few entertainments. The City is conse- 
quently less interesting to strangers, and business is 
therefore dull. Paris, to be prosperous, must be bril- 
liant. Her Palaces must be occupied and her Saloons 
open. The wealthy and fashionable must be drawn 
here by Royalty, whose atmosphere cannot be breathed 
except by those in costly attire. A very large propor- 
tion of the inhabitants of Paris derive their support 
from occupations which minister to the luxuries rather 
than the necessities of life. In almost everything here 
the ornamental predominates over the useful. And in 
everything ornamental — in all that charms the eye, 
gratifies the ear, or delights the palate, the French are 
unrivaled. The Shopkeepers, the Milliners, the Con- 



Letters from Europe. 433 

fectioners, the Perfumers, &c, &c, sigh for a Restora- 
tion. 

The loss of life, in the recent affair, is variously esti- 
mated at from 500 to 1,500, in Paris. Many of these 
people were shot on the Boulevards, and were generally 
persons who were attracted thither by curiosity. Three 
Americans were wounded, one of them, a Midshipman 
or Lieutenant of our Navy, severely. Louis Napoleon, 
who heard of the case, sent one of his Staff to see him. 
Another American charged with crying "a has Napo- 
leon" was sent to Prison. Mr. Sanford, our Secretary 
of Legation, hearing this, investigated the charge, found 
that the man not only did not so cry, but knew so little 
of French that he was incapable of doing so if he had 
desired ; whereupon, the third day he was released. 

Our townsman, Mr. J. B. James, found himself " in a 
tight spot" during the melee. Walking on the Bou- 
levard Poissonnierre, he saw a child knocked down by 
the horse of an Officer, and going with the multitude 
towards the spot where the child lay dying, he heard 
an order, and looking round found a Platoon of Soldiers, 
with their muskets cocked, aiming at him and a few 
others, who did not wait for a second order to disperse. 
Near the place, a short time afterwards, a crowd was 
fired into and twenty persons killed. As late as yes- 
terday I saw Masons at work plastering up Cannon 
and Bullet holes in the walls of buildings on the 
Boulevards. 

The Proclamations of Louis Napoleon were a perfect 
surprise. Paris went to sleep on the night of the coup 
d'etat, without a suspicion or a dream of what would 
greet them on waking, The Government Printer, it is 

55 



434 Thurlow Weed's 

said, was sent for at 12 o'clock at night to receive the 
manuscript copies of the Proclamations, &c, with a 
strict injunction of secrecy. Guards accompanied him 
back to the Printing Office, and were stationed by each 
Compositor and Press until their work was done. 

During the progress of the Revolution, strong feel- 
ings of hostility to Napoleon were manifested, and a 
pretty general belief existed that he would fail. But 
this belief, if not the sentiment, has undergone a great 
change. Nobody now doubts but that the Nephew and 
Heir of Napoleon is to govern France, in what manner 
and how long, remains to be seen. 

The Palace of the Tuilleries is being restored and 
fitted up as a Royal Residence. The President now 
occupies the Palace of the Elysee, in the Rue St. 
Honore, but it is expected, immediately after the Elec- 
tions, that he will remove to the Tuilleries, signalizing 
his success with a splendid Review and a series of 
magnificent entertainments. 

Mr. Rives, our Minister, has not been to the Palace 
of Elysee since the Revolution, though after the Presi- 
dent shall have been recognized by the People it is 
presumed that he will reappear at Court. 

That Louis Napoleon has the sympathies, and will 
have, if he desires it, the support of the Legitimists of 
Europe, is quite certain. If by doing for them what 
they could not do for themselves, their friendship could 
be won, he is well entitled to it. It is easier to mold 
and govern France now than it ever was before. 
There are fewer master spirits to deal with, fewer 
rivals to encounter, and a less excitable population. 
The spirit of the age is pacific. Even those who love 



Letters from Europe. 435 

Freedom, rationally, are disposed to count the cost. 
They are willing even to forego the enjoyment of 
its blessings if the boon is to be purchased with blood 
and treasure. But this probably grows out of the 
circumstance that here in France, after having over- 
thrown Despotisms and Representative Monarchies for 
the sake and in the name of Freedom, they fail to get 
a genuine article. So far the French political crucible 
has given the People bogus instead of the pure metal. 
And it is not to be wondered at that they begin to 
distrust, if not to weary of false pretenses. 

The success of Louis Napoleon's demonstration 
will, in defiance of the maxim, roll back the wheels of 
Revolution. It will put out the fires and crush the 
spirit of Freedom all over Europe. There is no hope 
for Switzerland or Sardinia, and less than none for 
Hungaiy. The People of Prussia, Belgium, &c, who 
obtained installments of Liberty from their Monarchs 
will or may be required to yield them back. 

You have Lola Montez in America. She is not 
only an eccentric but an extraordinary woman. I 
have learned a good deal of her history from a reliable 
source. Though not faultless, and certainly not a 
model for Ladies of our Country, she is by no means 
as bad as she has been represented, and even less frail 
than hundreds of European Ladies, in high life, who 
pass without public scandal. Her career has been a 
most eventful one, and her present professional visit 
to America is not among its least singular incidents. 



436 Thurlow Weed's 



VI. 

PARIS, December 29, 1851. 

More than 8,000,000 of votes were cast on the 20th 
and 21st instant, of which over nine-tenths were in 
favor of Louis Napoleon. This average is nearly uni- 
form in and out of Paris. 

The President or First Consul, is now actively en- 
gaged in arranging the machinery of Government. He 
is aided by comparatively new men, most of the States- 
men of the Republic having either retired or been dis- 
carded. To perfect a system of Government for France 
is no ordinary task. The power of Louis Napoleon is 
supreme, so that if he possesses wisdom and integrity 
he can, for a season, at least, give repose and prosperity 
to a great Nation. I say for a season, because I am 
persuaded that this condition of things cannot be endur- 
ing. That repose for which the People are indebted to 
the Army, cannot last long, for the Army must and will 
have occupation. 

The President keeps his own secrets. The best 
informed persons here are quite ignorant of his inten- 
tions. The movement which overthrew the recent 
Government was a perfect surprise. Ministers and 
Generals who found themselves in Prison on the morn- 
ing of the 3d instant went to sleep, wholly unconscious 
and unsuspecting. All was admirably arranged. The 
Minister of the Interior, the officer destined to the com- 



Letters from Europe. 437 

mand of the Army and the Chief of Police were alone 
in Bonaparte's councils. The entire Police force was 
on duty, with extra pay, all night. Resistance was 
apprehended only from the National Guard. To avoid 
this possibility the Drum Majors of each Brigade were 
directed to repair with all their Drummers and Drums 
to a large Court in the Place Vendome at eleven o'clock 
at night. Here they were placed under a sufficient 
guard and supplied bountifully with refreshments for 
the night. This and similar precautionary steps were 
taken so adroitly as to escape observation. 

"The Independent," a Journal published at Brussels, 
as I am informed, contains an account of the movement 
furnished by distinguished men obnoxious to the Presi- 
dent, but as that Paper has been suppressed here, I 
have not seen it, though a Gentleman just from Belgium 
promises me a copy. The account published in the Lon- 
don Papers, which I suppose you have seen, was written 
by De Tocqueville. 

The President is seldom seen, though this is supposed 
to be on account of his devotion to business. We met 
him on Thursday Evening returning from the Theatre 
in a close Carriage escorted by a Troop of Cavalry. 
He is to be at the Church of Notre Dame on New 
Years Day where there is to be a sort of Coronation. 

The resignation of Lord Palmerston is the subject 
of much speculation and conjecture here. The London 
Papers are read with avidity, but furnish little more 
than their own speculations. The French question, as 
is generally supposed, had more or less to do with that 
resignation. Mr. Webster's demands in regard to the 
outrage committed upon our Flag at Nicaragua may 



438 Thurlow "Weed's 

have embarrassed the retired Minister for Foreign 
Affairs. Lord Palmerston certainly sympathized with 
Louis Napoleon, as did not the British Nation, but his 
views are not unlikely to be adopted by Ins successor, 
for if the other Monarchies find it for their interest to 
recognize this Government, England will not stand * 
out alone. If, therefore, the British Man-of-War was 
sent to Nicaragua with instructions which occasioned 
that outrage, Lord Palmerston would have found it 
easier to resign than to disavow the act. And if, as we 
all assume, that act is to be disavowed, may not this 
account for the resignation of the Minister of Foreign 
Affairs ? 

The Nicaraguan Affairs, together with the change 
of Ministry, will probably prevent our Minister, Mr. 
Lawrence, from visiting Paris, as he intended, next 
week. 

Louis Napoleon has been removing some trouble- 
some residents of Paris. France, as you know, has 
a common centre to which everything tends and all ai*e 
attracted. With us many to whom the restraints of 
law are inconvenient, go to Texas, or Canada, or Cal- 
ifornia; but in France all persons of enterprise and 
genius come to Paris. This, of course, makes a mix- 
ture of good and bad, in which, however, there is a 
strong infusion of the latter ingredient. Of persons 
condemned through a series of years to the Galleys, 
some 500 who had been either pardoned or had 
served out their terms, returned to Paris. They were, 
however, restricted to certain quarters, though not very 
rigidly watched. These discharged convicts, or some 
of them, were engaged in Barricading the City on the 



Letters from Europe. 439 

3d inst., with a view to pillage and spoils. Orders 
were, therefore, given to the Chief of Police to arrest 
all who had thus broken their ban. Several hundred 
have been taken and sent to Cayenne, where a Colony 
of Convicts is to be established. 

Paris is, or seems to be, as quiet as Boston or New 
Haven. For this the City is, I suppose, indebted to the 
Sentinels who are posted at almost every corner, and 
the Horse Guards that patrol during the night. 

The Parisians are preparing for the New Year. The 
Shop windows are gorgeous beyond anything I had 
ever imagined. The displays in the Rue de la Paix, 
the Palace Royal, and on the Boulevards, are alike 
brilliant and dazzling. Booths are erected along the 
Boulevards filled with all the novelties and frivolities 
that French genius and taste (in which the attractive 
and repulsive are strangely mingled) can invent; so 
that for miles you have a continuous Bazaar. 

Mr. Vattemare, the indomitable Father and Agent 
of the system of International Exchanges, continues 
to devote himself to his enlightened Mission with a 
perseverance and fidelity worthy of all praise. He 
took us yesterday to the Patent Office to see a splendid 
Collection of Weights and Measures which are to be 
presented to the American Government in exchange 
for Weights and Measures sent from Washington to 
France. The French system is a perfect one, and this 
Collection is very valuable. The Weights and Meas- 
ures are now being carefully verified, and will be 
shipped in a month or two. The Minister of Commerce, 
in acknowledging the receipt of the American Weights 
and measures, says "that the Scales particularly have 



440 Thurlow Weed's 

been found of such precision that they are now used in 
preference to ours for the most delicate operations." 

We also visited Mr. Vattemare's Agency Apart- 
ments, in which are many hundred Volumes of rare and 
valuable Books destined to enrich the Archives and 
Libraries of our Country, many of them being for our 
own State, a rich return for its munificence in this 
respect. It is to be hoped that the American Govern- 
ment, National and State, will continue to strengthen 
Mr. Vattemare, for by doing so America will, in the 
course of a few years, become the recipient of most of 
the Literary and Scientific treasures of Europe. He 
is the man of all others for the successful prosecution 
of this great enterprise. His ambition is to be the 
Founder of a Republic of Letters. And to this end he 
brings an energy, an intelligence and an enthusiasm 
which must overcome all obstacles. 

Napoleon is about to signalize his triumphant elec- 
tion by a series of public demonstrations. At the 
Church of Notre Dame to-morrow is to be a magnifi- 
cent Te Deum, in which the Archbishop and all the 
Clergy will participate. The Mayors of all the Cities 
in France, the Officers of State, the Judges, the Diplo- 
matic Corps, &c, &c, are to be present. Ten guns are 
to be fired in the morning, at the Hospital of Invalides, 
for each million of Affirmative votes. On the 3d of 
January a Grand Ball is to be given at the Hotel de 
Ville, and a Grand Banquet at the same place on the 
4th. On the evening of the 1st of January the Public 
Buildings are to be illuminated. After the Te Deum 
the President is to receive the congratulations of the 
Civil and Military Authorities at the Palace of the 



Letters from Europe. 441 

Tuilleries. Soon after these Fetes there is to be a Re- 
view of the Army. 

Our Minister, Mr. Rives, as I informed you, had not 
been at the Palace of the Elysee since the coup d'etat 
of Louis Napoleon. As all the other members of the 
Corps Diplomatic had called immediately after that 
event, Mr. Rives' absence was the subject of remark, 
and, as is said, of displeasure. If the President should 
assume that our Minister has discontinued his official 
relations with his Government, Mr. Rives will not be 
invited to the Te Deum, Banquet, &c. 

Our Consul, Mr. Goodrich (known and respected 
everywhere as Peter Parley), not only discharges his 
official duties acceptably, but renders Paris exceedingly 
pleasant for Americans, by throwing his house open for 
agreeable and unceremonious visits every Friday even- 
ing. We met a large party of Americans there, who 
passed the evening with conversation, music and danc- 
ing. Both Mr. G. and his Lady tender to visitors, in 
the kindest manner, not only civilities but information, 
which are alike pleasant and useful. 

The Office of Messrs. Livingston & "Wells is also a 
favorite resort of Americans, where they read American 
newspapers and mail Letters. I hope that their estab- 
lishment here is as advantageous to themselves as it is 
convenient and pleasant to their countrymen. 

The confidence of French capitalists in the existing 
state of things is indicated by their sale of American 
securities, with a view to their investment in French 
Funds. I meet such almost daily at the Consulate 
making transfers of United States stock. 

56 



442 Thuelow Weed's 



VII. 

PARIS, January 2, 1852. 

The advent of a New Year occasioned opportunity 
for Louis Napoleon, who availed himself of it, to com- 
memorate his triumphant Election by a most splen- 
didly impressive ceremony at v the Cathedral of Notre 
Dame, that memorable edifice having been gorgeously 
decorated for the occasion. 

In going to Notre Dame at half-j>ast 10 a. m., we 
passed thousands of Troops, who were being formed on 
either side of the streets leading from the Palace of the 
Elysee to the Cathedral, a distance of two miles. All 
was excitement, but there was no confusion. We 
reached Notre Dame at 11 o'clock in a long train of 
carriages. All around National emblems were dis- 
played. Numerous Battalions of Troops guarded every 
approach to the Cathedral. In entering the Cathedral 
we were dazzled by the brilliancy of 13,000 sperm can- 
dles, placed in over an hundred Glass Chandeliers, Can- 
delabras, &c, &c. This broad glare of light threw its 
rays upon innumerable Flags, Eagles, Tapestries, and a 
gorgeous canopy, under which a chair was placed for 
the " Prince President," this, for the present, being his 
title. Most of the decorations were the same used at 
the Coronation of Napoleon in 1804, with an "L" 
added to his initial of " N." 

The Municipal Authorities of Paris and the other 
Cities of France, the Officers of Government, the 



Letters feom Europe. 443 

Judges, the Bar, &c, &c, were already there. It being 
difficult to obtain Tickets (lest some who had lost 
friends in the massacre should come with an intention 
of avenging their griefs), prevented the attendance of 
citizens and strangers except to a limited extent. There 
were but few persons, therefore, in the Galleries. This 
gave us a fine view. 

A little before twelve the Archbishop of Paris, with 
his Clergy, in magnificent Robes, moved in Procession 
down the broad Aisle to the entrance, where they 
awaited the arrival of Napoleon, whose approach was 
heralded by the firing of cannon and the pealing of the 
chimes of the Cathedral. The body of the Church 
was filled with Gendarmes, who surrounded the 
President and those who occupied places of honor and 
distinction. 

Napoleon, as he entered the Church, knelt slightly 
to the Archbishop, from whom he received the Sacra- 
ment and a Benediction. The Holy Fathers then 
moved slowly back to the Altar, followed by the Presi- 
dent, with General St. Arnaud, the Minister of War, 
on his right, and General Magnan, Commander-in-Chief 
of the Army, on his left. Immediately behind the Presi- 
dent sat Jerome Bonaparte, Ex- King of Westphalia, 
Marshal Excelmans and General De la Kaniera, both 
Soldiers of the Emperor, and the latter having lost his 
right arm in one of his battles. There could not have 
been less than six or seven hundred officers of the staff 
and the line, all in full dress, in the Church. Napoleon 
passed in and out of the Church amid exclamations of 
"Vive la Napoleon," mingled, or rather sprinkled with 
voices, shouting "Vive la Empereur!" The President 



444 Thurlow Weed's 

was dressed in the uniform of a General of the National 
Guard. 

The Diplomatic Corps, in full Court Dresses, made 
an imposing- appearance. Lord Normandy, the British 
Embassador, with a splendid scarlet uniform, was 
particularly conspicuous. Mr. Rives, the American 
Minister, represented his Country as Franklin did, in 
Republican simplicity of costume. 

The Te Deum was highly effective. During the 
ceremony there was the most profound stillness. The 
singing was what might have been expected from several 
hundred of the finest and most highly cultivated in 
Paris. 

The ceremony occupied just an hour, and old Par- 
isians speak of it as bearing a striking resemblance, in 
its decorations, effect, &c, to the Coronation of Napo- 
leon. The President has a youthful appearance, a 
quick eye and an alert step. His bearing was graceful. 
Throughout he was self-possessed, receiving and wear- 
ing his honors as complacently as if he had purchased 
and paid for them. He evidently believes, with his 
Illustrious Uncle, that his "Star is leading him to 
Supreme Power." That he possesses great talents, 
courage and vaulting ambition, is quite certain. 

I looked upon this magnificent Pageant with a pain- 
ful conviction that all that had been gained for Freedom, 
in France, by the Revolutions of 1830 and of 1848, is 
lost. The Republican Experiment, in this great Nation, 
has proved a signal failure. The wave which those 
Revolutions rolled through Europe, shaking Thrones 
in its course, will now come back with a crushing recoil. 

But Louis Napoleon is not alone to blame for all 



Letters from Europe. 445 

this ; others were laboring, with even more zeal, to 
bring Republicanism into disrepute. And it is proba- 
ble that if he had been faithful to the Republic, they 
would have overthrown it and him. Those whom he 
imprisoned must not all be regarded as victims to 
Republicanism. And it must be admitted, also, that in 
this coup d'etat the President has the support of a vast 
majority of the People of France. The Aristocracy 
was of course against Republicanism. Capitalists lived 
in constant apprehension. The middling classes began 
to doubt. Operatives, &c, by whom Republicanism 
was mainly upheld, imperfectly informed, were liable 
to mistake License for liberty. Agents were busy, in 
the name of Republicanism, mingling passions with its 
principles that threatened destruction to society. The 
result of all of which is, that the mind of France is 
reluctantly returning to its ancient modes of thinking. 
It therefore acquiesces in, rather than approves of, the 
change which seems inevitable. 

Already "coming events cast their shadows before." 
The President removes to the Palace of the Tuilleries. 
Persons are only to be presented, hereafter, in Court 
Dress. A Functionary is abroad negotiating a marriage 
with a Princess. By a Decree in the Moniteur this 
morning, the "Eagles" of the days of the Emperor are 
restored to the National Standards and to the Cross of 
the Legion of Honor. The terms "Liberty, Equality, 
Fraternity," which everywhere greet the eye, upon 
the walls of Public Edifices, are to be effaced. Indeed, 
all the emblems of Free Government will fade out, and 
with them perish the hopes of Freedom on this side the 
Atlantic. 



446 Thurlow Weed's 



VIII. 

PARIS, January 5, 1852. 

There is, just now, a pause in public affairs ; or per- 
haps I might say that the curtain has fallen upon 
the conclusion of the 2d Act of the great National 
Drama. The Actors are dressing, doubtless, for the 
next scene, but little is known of what passes in the 
green-room. 

New gold coins are to be struck, with " Louis Napo- 
leon Bonaparte, Dieu Protege la France," on one 
side, and " Republique Franc aise" on the other. 

On Saturday the Tree of Liberty in front of the 
Chamber of Deputies was cut down. Other Liberty 
Trees about Paris have shared a similar fate. One at 
Bezires, which cost the Town 1,200 francs, has been 
torn up by the roots and given to the Poof for fuel. 
These trees are supposed to exert an unfriendly influ- 
ence against the Government. 

Many of the Towns are becoming very loyal. 
The Municipal Authorities of Mioris headed their 
Congratulatory Address thus : " To His Majesty my 
Lord President of the French Republic." The School- 
master could not have been much abroad in that 
quarter. 

The Moniteur says that Lamartine has renounced 
politics and is about. to discontinue his Journal. 

"We have seen Rachel, the French impersonation of 



Letters from Europe. 447 

Tragedy. She is indeed a great actress, though to see 
her, in repose, no person could suppose so. There is 
nothing remarkable in her person, or striking in her 
features. Indeed, until her powers are required, she 
seems a commonplace sort of person enough. But in 
all that she does and says, the perfection of manner 
and the soul of feeling are wonderfully displayed. 
Having seen her, even with disadvantage of under- 
standing most imperfectly, I no longer wonder at the 
enthusiasm she is capable of inspiring. She is, I am 
siu-e, well entitled to be ranked with G-arrick, Mrs. 
Siddons, Talma, and the Elder Kean, to whose Tragic 
excellence none other has ever attained. 

We went, on Saturday evening, to the Grand Ball, 
given in honor of the Prince President by the Prefect 
of the Seine at the Hotel de Ville. It was one of 
those brilliant scenes of which you have read. The 
Rooms were richly decorated and brilliantly lighted. 
Lords rejoiced in Stars, Garters, &c, and Ladies 
sparkled with Diamonds. The Music was exciting and 
the Dancing graceful. Some 4,000 persons were in 
attendance. 

Apropos of Music. The Choir, by which the Te 
Deum was executed at Notre Dame on New Year's 
Day, received 16,000 Francs, or $3,200, for its ser- 
vices. 

Mr. Bryan, of Philadelphia, a gentleman of literary 
tastes and a connoisseur in Painting, who has resided 
in Paris twenty years, has a large collection of rare 
and valuable Pictures, the Works of ancient and Mod- 
ern Artists. I dined with him on Sunday, and while 
•looking through his Gallery discovered a Painting which 



448 Thurlow "Weed's 

possessed great historical interest. This is a View of 
Genesee Falls, painted by the Brother of Louis Phil- 
lippe in 1795, when those illustrious Exiles were on 
their way through the wilderness to Niagara Falls. The 
View was taken from the Northeast side of the River, 
(below the Falls) about opposite what used to be Alcott's 
Cotton Factory, where so many of us stood to witness 
the fatal leap of " Sam Patch." There seem to have 
been four persons in the party, and while the Artist was 
engaged with his Pencil his companions were engaged 
in getting ready a collation on a blanket under a tree. 
After the overthrow of Louis Phillippe, this, among 
other Pictures belonging to the King, was sold, Mr. 
Bryan, knowing its value as an American gem, pur- 
chased it. But this is not all. Mr. Bryan intends to 
present it to the City of Rochester. This is certainly 
its appropriate destination. And there it will be both 
appreciated and cherished. 

Intelligence reached Paris last evening of the death 
of Mrs. Murray, the accomplished daughter of the late 
James "Wadsworth, of Geneseo. She had been married 
but little over a year, and died, I understand, in giving 
birth to a child. Mrs. Murray died at Cairo, whither 
she had accompanied her husband immediately after 
her marriage, Sir Charles being Consul-General of 
Her Majesty. It was to attend the Marriage of his 
Sister in Scotland that James S. Wadsworth came 
out in 1850, and for whom such deep and universal 
solicitude was experienced while the fate of the At- 
lantic was in doubt. 

It is reported here that Napoleon was shot at by a 
soldier doing duty with his Company, as he was leaving 



Letters feom Europe. 449 

his Palace to go to the Te Deum on the 1st of January, 
and that the Ball actually hit his hat. It is further said 
that the Soldier himself was shot by his Company within 
two hours afterwards. This seems improbable — almost 
impossible, but well informed persons believe it. If true 
the President took it very coolly, for he was calm and 
unconcerned at Notre Dame. 



57 



450 Thuelow Weed's 



IX. 

PARIS, January 8, 1852. 

The American Mails, quite anxiously looked for, ar- 
rived yesterday. But the dates from New York are 
only to the 23d ultimo, at which time you had scarcely 
digested the French news. The Tribune utters its in- 
dignation with increasing eloquence. Its article has 
been read here with deep interest. It embodies the 
sentiments and sympathies of an ardent lover of 
Freedom. 

But I grieve to say that the enemies of Freedom are 
not alone to blame for its recent collapse in Em-ope. 
A great and glorious effort was made in 1848, to over- 
throw Despotism. Some of its thrones toppled down, 
and nearly all of them trembled. But those who struck 
for Freedom lacked either the wisdom or the virtue 
to profit by the advantages they secured for their cause. 
The Constitutions and Privileges then granted to the 
People by their Sovereigns have been either annulled 
or retracted. In France, where the strongest impulses 
for Freedom exist, and where Eepubhcanism was most 
popular, there has been neither harmony of opinion or 
concert of action. The People to a large extent were 
sound, but their Representatives were unfaithful, and 
their Councils distracted. Things went on in this way 
until a pretty general opinion prevailed that Republi- 
canism would not do for France. This resulted from 



Letters from Europe. 451 

no change of sentiment in regard to that form of Gov- 
ernment, but from the misconduct of its Champions and 
Representatives. 

Had Mr. Greeley's article appeared a fortnight ear- 
lier it would have been transferred to the London 
Times, for it is better Thunder than its own. But the 
tone of the English Press is subdued. John Bull is 
reflecting upon the French question. Its bearings may 
well induce England to pause. 

I hear to-day from a reliable soiu-ce that inasmuch as 
the Captain of the British Vessel at Nicaragua acted 
without orders in firing upon the Prometheus, the Gov- 
ernment has disavowed the act. But if this be so you 
will have heard of it before this letter reaches home. 
I hope it is, for we do not want any more " passages at 
arms." And I fear that the merits of the question are 
not all on our side. 

Chalons, January 9. 

Instead of finishing this Letter in Paris, I was inter- 
rupted by calls, and at an early hour this morning we 
left the Metropolis, and have been all day passing 
through a Country which, with American Institutions, 
and American intelligence and industry, would produce 
in abundance all that the eye or appetite could desire. 
For more than two hundred miles the Valleys of the 
Seine and the Saone, through which we passed, are as 
fertile and as beautiful, and much broader, than those 
of the Susquehanna or the Genesee. With the applica- 
tion of marl and plaster, which everywhere abounds, 
all the products of the Earth are produced in profusion. 
Upon the Hills, on either side of the River, Vineyards 



452 Thurlow Weed's 

are seen, and though at this season neither the Valleys 
nor the Hills are clothed in verdure or "drop their fat- 
ness," yet the view of so many evidences of fertility is 
refreshing. Oh what a glorious Country France would 
be if her 350,000 Soldiers were, instead of consuming 
the products of a partially cultivated soil, restored to the 
workshops and the farms ! 

We passed Fontainbleau, but as its magnificent For- 
est is now disrobed, concluded to defer our visit to the 
favorite residence of Josephine. 

The Rivers I have named, instead of being made 
available, as our Rivers are, for navigation and other 
purposes, are almost entirely unused. We did not see, 
on these Rivers and the Yonne Canal, which runs 
parallel with them, all day, as much Produce and Mer- 
chandise, or as many Boats, as we should have met on 
the Erie Canal in a single hour. And yet we were 
passing through Cities and Villages, during the whole 
day, not more than ten or fifteen miles distant from 
each other, containing from five to twenty-five thousand 
inhabitants. 

The Peasantry of France are poorly clad and miser- 
ably housed. Where Fuel is so scarce and dear, Fire is a 
luxury in which the Poor are unable to indulge. But 
inured as they are to this privation, where an American 
would perish they seem comfortable. It is, neverthe- 
less, a great wrong to all France that the Government 
should repress the working of her Mines, which might 
produce an abundance of Coals of an excellent quality. 
In this, as in other respects, the principle that Govern- 
ments are instituted for the benefit of the governed, is 
widely departed from. 



Lkttkks riiuM Kikoi'K. 453 

Dijon, the Ancient Capital of Burgundy, where we 
had an opportunity of looking round, is a large, beau- 
tiful and apparently prosperous City. Its Churches, 
Town Houses, &c, are splendid structures. It is a 
place, us yon know, of great historical interest, being 
the residence of the Dnkes of Burgundy and the scene 
of the various vicissitudes of good and evil fortune 
through which all Ancient Cities have passed. Dickens 
has made Dijon the scene of a tragedy of absorbing 
interest. It was here that Edith Dombey awaited Car- 
eer ; it was here that noble spirited Woman avenged 
her wrongs without compromising her honor ; and it was 
here that crimes which lack a name, and for which 
hnman jurisprudence has invented no punishment, were 
expiated fearfully but righteously by an avenging 
Locomotive, whose iron wheel crushed the wretch to 
powder. 

Chalons is the Terminus of the Paris and Lyons Kail- 
wax-. And here we expected to take Steamers, but that 
expectation was disappointed in a manner quite unfore- 
seen. The Saone is frozen, or rather has been for ten 
days, but is now breaking up. After beating about we 
found the Captain of the Steamer who promises to 
take us to Lyons to-morrow. Instead of taking the 
Diligence and a night ride, we concluded to wait for the 
Boat, as discomfortable and unsightly a looking struc- 
ture as I have ever seen. She is an Iron Steamer over 
200 feet long, only nine feet wide, and without any 
upper works. Indeed, but for the narrowness of beam 
and her great length, she looks like a Hudson River 
Steamer razeed for a Coal Boat. It has three low. 



454 Thurlow Weed's 

narrow, disagreeable looking Cabins, into which as 
many classes of Passengers are admitted, with a pros- 
pect of faring nearly as well, in the first class, as you do 
in the Cabin of an Erie Canal Freight Boat. But if 
the weather should be good, the discomforts of the 
Steamer will be forgotten in the novelty and beauty of 
the River scenery. 

Lyons, January 11. 

We have had a day's experience in a French Steam- 
boat, which, however inferior in every respect to our 
own, we are quite unwilling to exchange, as we are 
compelled to do here, for a French Diligence. 

The clay was cold but the temptations of scenery 
kept us much on deck. The Saone passed yesterday 
through a delightful country. The soil, though it has 
been cultivated a thousand years or more, is of primeval 
richness. Ancient Chateaux, of majestic proportions, are 
numerous and imposing. Every Village boasts of a 
Church which, in their magnitude and magnificence, 
surpass those that adorn our principal Cities. K 
Churches were portable it would be a great thing to 
our thriving Cities to import some that are quite useless 
here, for it will be ages before we shall have leisure and 
labor to build such. Absurd as this suggestion is, the 
removal of the Obelisk of Luxor from Egypt to Paris 
was an enterprise even more formidable than the 
removal of a Church to America, for the latter might 
be taken in detail. 

The "Zephyr," that being the name of our Steamer, 
resembling in many respects the description of the Sea 
Serpent, made but one landing from Chalons to Lyons. 



Letters from Europe. 455 

This was at Macon (where the Wine bearing its name is 
made), a large Town that furnished nine Passengers, 
six of whom were .Soldiers. The French travel, at 
home, but little. France, with her 40,000,000 of inhab- 
itants, does not furnish as many Passengers for the 
Railway, Steamboats, Diligences, &c., as the State of 
New York with her three millions. 

The Rivers Saone and Rhone are said to present 
scenerv as impressive and beautiful as that of the 
Rhine. We have not yet seen that of the Rhone, but 
the approach to Lyons, on the Saone, for fifteen miles 
iills and delights the eye. The River is rapid and 
becomes tortuous, so that the views are constantly 
changing, each surpassing the other in beauty and 
grandeur — grandeur, because in approaching Lyons 
you exchange the comparatively level country for bold 
mountain views, cultivated as Vineyards to their peaks, 
and rendered striking with their Chateaux and Castles. 

The indications of wealth as you approach Lyons, 
arc- all realized upon entering the City, whose massive 
docks, well built streets and fine mansions, show what 
the manufacture of Silks has done for its inhabitants. 
There are some seven hundred Silk manufactories, 
with over L'0,000 looms, here. Lyons contains 250,000 
inhabitants, for whom, in good seasons, there is ample 
employment. Having been founded by some Romans 
forty years before the Christian Era, Lyons is a place 
of highly respectable Antiquity, as its central streets, 
laid out and built up ten or fifteen centuries before 
America was discovered, Btrongly testify. Lyons is far 
inland, it being nearly "JOO miles from the Mediterranean 
In clear weather the Alps and .Mont Blanc may 



456 Thurlow Weed's 

be seen distinctly from the eminence where the Csesars 
once had a Palace, of which there is still a ruin, and 
where at least one of the Roman Emperors was bom. 
The history of modern Lyons is that of painstaking 
and thrift, but anciently it was the scene of stirring 
and startling events. Here the early Christians suffer- 
ed martyrdom by thousands. And here, in the Revolu- 
tion of 1793, blood ran, literally, through the streets. 
But all is peaceful and quiet now. 



Letters from Europe. 457 



X. 

AVIGNON, Jahuaby li, 1852. 

We looked around Lyons cursorily on Monday. Admit- 
tance is obtained to the Silk Manufactories for a consid- 
eration. Some very rich Silks are being- made to order 
for America. But others still richer are going to East- 
em Pashaws. It was here that the very magnificent 
Robes for the Archbishop of Quebec, which we saw last 
Summer, were made, and the Manufacturer confirms the 
statement of a Priest there, that they were the most 
costly ever made. We looked, also, at places memor- 
able for blood and sufferings, first by the early Chris- 
tians, and then in the Revolution of 1793, the latter 
under the auspices of monsters whose race, it is to be 
hoped, is extinct. 

Lyons is in the vicinity of rich Coal Mines. As our 
fires were supplied with miserable wood, we asked for 
Coals. In reply wo learned that the business of sup- 
plying the City with Fuel was a monopoly enjoyed by 
two Wood Dealers, with whom the Government shared 
profits. 

The River Rhone being too low for .navigation, the 
Diligence Proprietors, not unlike their brothers in our 
own Country, took advantage of the circumstance to 
put up their Fare. In a Steamer it would have cost us 
SI 6 to come to Avignon, 150 miles. Now we paid 
S40. This exasperated some people who were going, 

58 



458 Thuklow Weed's 

but having learned, even before reading Tristram 
Shandy, that Frenchmen " will not lend you their 
Voitures to be shaken to pieces for nothing ; and, 
unless you pay twelve sous for greasing their wheels, 
how should the poor peasant get butter for his bread I" 
we took things calmly. 

Diligences, lumbering and clumsy as they look, are 
agreeable and easy going vehicles. The three Ladies 
of our party were comfortably bestowed in the Coupe. 
Five persons were packed along with me into the Inte- 
rior, while a large and miscellaneous party occupied 
the Rotunde. The baggage, with any amount of 
merchandise, goes aloft. When ready for starting, the 
Diligence, to be drawn by five horses, two at the 
wheels and three abreast on the lead, weighs something 
less than a Locomotive. The Roads, however, are 
excellent, so that even with this enormous weight the 
Diligence moves off at a tolerable pace. 

There is a spur of the Alps reaching quite to Lyons, 
and we passed, for most of the way to Avignon, 
through a broken country, presenting many varieties 
of scenery, some of which were very beautiful. Near 
Orleans, where the Romans constructed an Arch of 
Triumph which still stands proudly erect, the AIjjs, 
surmounted with Snows, are distinctly visible. It 
was here, as you know, from which the Family of 
Orange, that gave Sovereigns to Holland, England, 
&c, originated. 

The Country about Lyons is largely devoted to the 
culture of the Mulberry, a business into which we 
embarked, rather unprofitably, some years ago. As 
we approached Avignon, passing through Provence, 



Letters from Europe. 459 



we came into the Olive region. Millions of Acres are 
devoted to Olive Orchards. The Tree grows best 
upon the hill side where there is a good exposure to 
the Sun. The Tree is small and scraggy, and is fruit- 
ful and ban-en alternate years. The large Proprietors 
make the Oil themselves by placing the Olives in tubs 
of hot water, where they are pounded to a pummace, 
from which the virgin Oil comes to the surface and is 
skimmed off. Then, by compressing the pmnmace, an 
inferior Oil is produced. 

The Merchandise, "Wines, &c, &c , between Lyons 
and Marseilles and the intermediate places, are trans- 
ported on Trucks (two wheels not quite as large as 
that at Burden's Iron Works) drawn by three, four, 
five, and six Mules, tandem, with a Donkey on the 
lead. The harness which adorns the Mules' necks must 
have been invented soon after the flood, before the 
establisliment of Museums, or something like them 
would have been preserved in these archives of 
Ancient Art. It would evidently be impossible to 
" conquer the prejudices" of the French in favor of 
their own husbandry. In the matter of Swine, for 
example, while their neighbors have improved the 
breed wonderfully, the French cherish that "lean 
kine " which Noah gathered into the Ark. I saw 
droves of Hogs to-day with legs nearly or quite a foot 
and a half long. In some instances I really believe 
that the l«-_rs, snout, ears, and tail would outweigh the 
body. Perhaps this is because the French prefer 
Souse, or want to display their science in cooking Pigs' 
Feet, &c, &c. Let me not, however, be understood as 
speaking irreverently of French culinary science, for 



460 Thurlow Weed's 

which I have the most unqualified admiration. In this 
science we are as far behind France as she is behind 
us in some other respects. If nothing but economy 
was to be consulted, we should profit largely by estab- 
lishing Culinary Schools in America with French Pro- 
fessors. But along with economy would come good 
eating. Take, for example, that indispensable vegeta- 
ble, the Potato. I have not seen one boiled since we 
landed in France ; and yet they were served on our 
table, every day, but variously cooked, and always 
delicious. The tops of Celery, too, are cooked so as 
flavor and garnish half a dozen dishes. Nor are good 
Cooks confined to the principal Hotels and Cafes. It 
is a Domestic attainment. If any Traveler coming to 
Paris chooses to test our judgment in this matter, let 
them take Apartments with Madame Joseph, No. 65 
Rue New St. Augustin, a few steps from the Place 
Vendome, the Roullevait Madaline, the Garden of 
the Tuilleries, and the Champs Elysee. I will cheer- 
fully pay for all the Dinners they quarrel with. 

Provence, through which we passed to-day, was, 
apparently, very poor. Everything looked old and 
dilapidated. We saw but few Cattle and no Sheep, 
There was everywhere an absence of domestic com- 
fort. The People lacked the cheerfulness which belongs 
to the French character. The Buildings are all of 
Stone, with apartments for Families and Horses under 
the same roof. For full an hundred miles we encoun- 
tered a race of unwashed Women. We did not see for 
hours, either in Villages or at Farm Houses, a Woman 
or child with clean face or hands. 

But as we approached Avignon, both the face of 



LETTERS' FROM EUROPE. 461 

Nature and the faces of "Heaven's besl gift" manifested 
a gratifying: improvement : bo much so, that it is no! al 
all difficult to imagine that Laura's charms and virtues 
were worthy of Petrarch's muse and devotion. On 
inquiring, however, f«»r Laura's Tomb, we were informed 
that but a single stone of it remains. 

Avignon is a most interesting- Town. Here the 
Romans made their mark, as indeed that wonderful 
People did wherever their Arms or their Priesthood 
established themselves, for their structures were alike 
formidable and enduring. Their numbers must have 
been legion, or they could not have accomplished such 
Architectural wonders. Avignon, when the Church of 
Rome was divided, rejoiced in a Papal Palace, from 
which is a Bridge over the River Rhone, connecting 
with a Castle on the other side, to which, in emergen- 
cies, the Popes could escape through a subterranean 
passage. Three Arches of this Bridge, extending two- 
thirds across the River, are perfect. The Palace of the 
Pope is a majestic edifice in a good state of preserva- 
tion, occupied now as barracks for French Soldiers, and 
as a Prison for persons brought from the Mountains 
charged with political offenses in the recent Revolution. 
While we were viewing it the Families and Friends of 
the Prisoners came with provisions. It was painful to 
see Women and Children looking through dungeon 
grates at Husbands and Fathers. Avignon contains 
30,000 inhabitants, and is entirely surrounded by a 
Roman Wall. 

We visited the Nunnery of the Black Penitents for 
the purpose of Beeing whal is esteemed the best [vory 
Chrisl extant. The agonies of a Crucifixion are most 



462 Thuelow Weed's 

fearfully expressed. It is the work of an Avignon 
Artist whose Son had incurred the death penalties from 
the Inquisition, but whose life was saved by this 
exquisite peace of sculpture. The half francs paid by 
all to whom it is shown adds handsomely to the Charity 
Fund of the Nunnery. 



Letters from Europe. 463 



XL 

MARSEILLES, January 15, 1 

"We left Avignon, where another day might have 
been passed very pleasantly, this morning. It is not 
likely that my commendations will be of much service 
tn the worthy Host and Hostess of the Hotel de L'Eu- 
rope, at Avignon, but I cannot do less than to advise 
Americans coming this way to "make a note" of this 
excellent House, for everybody who goes there leaves 
it with agreeable recollections. 

Arle.s, once a large and important City, is now 
mainly rich in its Antiquities. Its Roman Amphithe- 
atre, which was capable of holding 25,000 spectators, 
is a splendid ruin. The Arches and Masonry of an 
Appian Way, extending, more than 1000 years ago, to 
Rome, still in a good state of preservation, are now 
the foundations for a common road. 

NlSMES, through which we passed without stopping, 
is also a place of great intei'est, as indeed are all 
places over which the once indomitable Romans spread 
themselves. Other Nations have warred with and con- 
quered their neighboring Nations, but none other left 
such Monuments behind them. 

There is a beautiful bay setting back several miles, 
as you approach Marseilles, on which, as we passed, 
hundreds of boats were engaged in fishing by torch- 
light. In this hay, by daylight, the same Fishermen 



464 Thurlow "Weed's 

take Sardines — this species of the finny tribe coming 
there, I suppose, to be convenient to the Oil in which 
they are preserved. We were, however, greatly sur- 
prised to find that at Marseilles, where we supposed 
Fish abundant and cheap, they cost fifty and sixty sous 
a pound. 

Marseilles is peculiar for its confusion of costumes 
and languages. In its Harbor all sorts of Craft is 
seen, and on its Wharves you meet People of all Na- 
tions. I saw in half an hour's stroll, in then- respective 
costumes, Turks, Moors, Greeks and Arabs. Of the 
latter was an hundred of the most miserable looking 
objects I had ever met. They were going from a dirty 
looking Vessel to a Steamer destined for Algiers, but 
why to Algiers I could not learn. They were filthy 
and half naked, looking haggard and ill. The Moors 
are well dressed, fine looking fellows. 

There is, except in its fine Harbor, but little of inter- 
est for the stranger here. We rode to the Prado, a 
beautiful Promenade, from which we had our first view 
of the Mediterranean, now calm and unmoved, with a 
mild spring sun shining upon its bright waters. Here 
too we immediately recognized the " Chateau d'lf," to 
which Dumas imparts such thrilling interest in his 
Monte Christo. 

I called on Mr. Hodge, our Consul, whom I knew 
in Philadelphia, and from whom I learned something 
of the workings of our beautiful Ad Valorem Tariff. 
Large cargoes of Rose Blankets are shipped from this 
Port to America. He found them invoiced at five 
francs a pair. This, by weight, gives a duty of about 
12 cents a pound, while the Wool, of which they are 



Letters from Europe. 465 

manufactured, is worth 30 cents. The Consul has been 
quarreling with the Importers, Consigners, &c, for 
more than a year, and has finally got their valuation 
up from five to sixteen francs. This is a specimen of 
the manner in which we are swindled by the Tariff 
which Mr. Walkeb, greatly to the delight of John 
Bull, has been glorying in England. So much has 
been said of the Kossuth difficulties here, that I of 
course endeavored to inform myself of the facts. Mr. 
Hodge very frankly showed me the whole Correspond- 
ence, but I shall only give you the substance. It 
should be remembered that, especially in Italy and 
France, they regarded Kossuth as a sort of Torpedo, 
that would ignite and explode if allowed to go into 
their cities. This caused anxiety to our officials. Com. 
Morgan and Captain Loxg, in Letters which I have 
read, apprised Mr. Hodge, before their arrival here, 
that their Guest was a troublesome customer, of whom 
they were most anxious to be quit. 

When the steamer Mississippi arrived here, Mr. Hodge 
received a Letter from Kossuth, desiring him to obtain 
from the Government permission to land and pass 
through France to England, adding that if the Prefect 
was not at liberty to grant this permission, a request 
that he should make the application, by Telegraph, to 
the Minister of the Interior at Paris. The Prefect, on 
whom Mr. Hodge called, said that it was impossible; 
that the Government was apprised of Kossuth's views 
and had instructed him how to act. The permission to 
travel by land through France would not he given, nor 
was he willing to hazard disorder here by allowing 
3uth to land. Mr.' Hodge, however, continued to 

59 



466 Thuelow Weed's 

press the latter point, insisting that the rights of hos- 
pitality should not be refused to strangers. Finally, on 
receiving a pledge from the Consul that his Guest 
should avoids crowds and forbear speech-making, &c, 
the Prefect gave permission to Kossuth, with his fami- 
ly and friends, to land. This was soon effected amid 
a large concourse of People, who were quiet and order- 
ly. In the evening Mr. Hodge invited Kossuth to 
accompany him to a Reception at the Prefect's, but as 
he did not care to meet the Austrian and Russian Con- 
suls, he declined. In the afternoon of the following 
day Kossuth informed the Consul that as the expense 
of living on shore was more than he could afford, he 
had concluded to reembark. Mr. Hodge informed him 
that he was preparing apartments for him and his fami- 
ly in his own House, but he adhered to his purpose of 
returning to the ship. 

In the meantime an impression had got out among 
the People that Kossuth was to return to the ship dis- 
satisfied with the Authorities, and a large crowd, 
amounting to several thousand, assembled. Mr. Hodge 
walked with him to the wharf, amid popular cries, 
which greatly alarmed the Authorities. 

The Prefect, in reply to his Telegraph inquiry, was 
informed that Kossuth's request was denied. This he 
communicated to the Consul by Letter. The Consul 
went immediately on board with this information, and 
at Kossuth's request, gave him the Prefect's Letter, 
which appeared next morning in " La Puebla." The 
Prefect immediately wrote to the Consul expressing 
astonishment that his Letter had been published. The 
Consul explained to the Prefect. In the meantime the 



Letters from Europe. 467 

People in large numbers surrounded the Mississippi in 
Boats, cheering' Kossuth and singing the .Marseilles. 
KOSSUTH appearing occasionally, and thanking them for 
their demonstrations of sympathy, &c. This increased 
the apprehensions of the Prefect, who expressed his 
fears of an outbreak from the great numbers of Ref- 
ugees in the City. 

Mr. Hodge, who had pledged himself for his Guest, 
and who was embarrassed by the publication of a Let- 
ter which he ought not to have allowed to go out of his 
hands, wrote to Captain Long and expressed fears that 
if difficulties occurred that our Government and Flag 
might be compromised, and asking him to request Kos- 
suth not to address those who gathered around the 
Ship. Capt. Long, participating in the apprehensions 
of the Consul, communicated that part of the Consul's 
Letter to Kossuth. He regarded the Mississippi as lit- 
tle better than the Prison from which he had been 
released, and said he would appeal to the American 
People against their representatives abroad. He then 
wrote a Letter to the Consul justifying the publication 
of the Prefect's Letter, &c, &c. 

Capt. Long, in much trouble, hastened his prepara- 
tions to Sail. He had hurried away from an Italian 
Port to avoid troubles there, and was compelled to take 
Coal here. But he got to Sea as soon as possible. 

Now I suppose that the real truth of the matter was, 

that the French Government had better reasons than 

were known for denying Kossuth's request Recent 

events have shown that dangers were thickening. It 

that Kossuth was in communication with theoppo- 



468 Thurlow Weed's 

sition, and that it was possible that he might hasten an 
emeute. 

Mr. Hodge, who is an American all over, had the 
highest regard for Kossuth, and desired to pay him 
every mark of respect. He obtained permission for 
him to land, by personally pledging himself that no 
popular excitement should be created. The publication 
of a Letter of the Prefect compromised him. I am 
sure, therefore, that when all the facts and circumstances 
are known, Mr. Hodge's conduct will be entirely ap- 
proved. 

On the other hand, except in the publication of that 
Letter, I see nothing to blame in Kossuth's course 
here. He desired to awaken all the influence and sym- 
pathy in France, for his cause, that he could. This 
was only being faithful to his Mission. Should he be 
censured for that? Certainly not. But the French 
Government, though a professing Republic, could not 
afford it. The Country was rife with strong political 
emotion. It was feared then, and is believed now, that 
if Kossuth had been permitted to pass leisurely 
through France, the "public tranquility" (that's the 
term in use) would have been seriously affected. 



Letters from Europe. 4G9 



XII. 

NICE, January 19, 1852. 

We are at last in Italy, or rather in that subdivision of 
Italy belonging to the King of Sardinia, who is, how- 
ever, little better than a tenant at sufferance of the 
Emperor of Austria. 

The first forty miles from Toulon is without interest. 
We therefore took the night for it, stopping at daylight 
at Draguignan. Observing persons on their way to 
Mass, I followed to the Chapel, where were at least a 
thousand women at their devotions, along with an 
hundred or an hundred and fifty of the other sex. 
Our Faith may in many inspects be better than that 
of the Catholics, but rising before the sun to confess 
and ask forgiveness is not among its Works. 

Returning from Church I saw a Regiment of Sol- 
diers out at roll-call. The French Army has been 
reformed in one desirable respect. The long, draggle- 
tail coat and clumsy chapeau have been exchanged for 
a neat frock and a tidy cap. They wear red Pants 
and a sky-blue Frock Coat. 

As we pass South, the Olive Groves increase in 
number and extent. We see here, too, several species 
of Pine, none, however, like our own. The most 
beautiful is called the Aleppo, or Umbrella Pine. 
These, besides being highly ornamental, furnish a 
grateful shade. They are from twenty to thirty feet 



470 Thurlow Weed's 

high, and spread out in exact Umbrella form, making- a 
canopy under which Camp or Mass Meetings might be 
held. We came, also, to Forests of Trees bearing a 
strong resemblance to our White Oaks, all of which 
were peeled from the roots to the limbs. This process 
was evidently a regular business, for while from some 
Trees the bark had been recently taken, on others it 
was formed anew, and on others again it was partly 
grown. We inferred that, as with us, the Bark was 
used for Tanning. But coming finally to a point 
where the Mountain of Estrelle had to be crossed, I 
got out to walk, when, on examination, our Oaks 
proved to be Cork Trees. Thus, again, Nature or 
Providence harmonizes its bounties. Along with the 
Vine grows the tree which furnishes the Cork so 
indispensable for the convenient preservation of the 
Wine. So with the Sardine. The Mediterranean Sea 
abounds in the Fish, while its shores supply the Oil in 
which they are preserved. May not this Fish (Sardine) 
have taken its name from the Country — Sardinia? 
We walked to the summit of this mountain, three and 
a half miles, from which was a glorious view of the 
surrounding country, broken into Vineyards and Olive 
Orchards, of the Mediterranean ; and of snow-clad tops 
of mountains in the direction of the Alps. On this 
summit is a single House or Hotel, with the sourest 
kind of Wine, before the door of which some soldiers 
were playing marbles with 6-pound cannon balls. 

We were three hours descending this mountain. 
This brought us to Frejus, the Port from which Bona- 
parte embarked first, when his Sun was rising, on his 
way to Egypt; and again when, fifteen years after-' 



Letters from Europe. 471 

wards, it was overshadowed, on his way to the Island of 
Elba. Frejus is a Roman Town with an Amphithea- 
tre, Church, and Aqueduct, by which the Town was 
supplied with water from the mountain streams, which 
are visible for twenty-four miles. It was in this Har- 
bor that Augustus moored the Fleet captured at 
Actium. MURRAY says that Frejus was the birth-place 
of Julius Agricola. A few miles further South, at a 
small Port, Kapoleox landed on his return from Elba. 
This spot is commemorated by a Column. 

Cannes, the next Town, is pleasantly situated. Here 
Lord BROUGHAM built a fine Mansion and resides. Op- 
posite the Town, apparently about two miles out, is the 
small Island of He Ste. Margueretta, with the Prison in 
which the "Man in the Iron Mask" was for so many 
years incarcerated. 

In the Province of Var, though which we have 
passed to-day, which is wild and mountainous, Red 
Republicanism and Socialism prevail. Here were the 
scenes of misrule and atrocity of which the accounts 
are so appalling. I know not how reliable these ac- 
counts were. They are said to be greatly exaggerated. 
But at any rate I know that the People of Var have 
been hunted as if they were wild beasts. "We met 
three detachments of Soldiers coming to-day with 
Prisoners. In the first lot there were at least fifty 
marching in couples fastened by the wrists. In the 
next there were some forty, and in the third some twen- 
ty. Several thousand have been brought in for trans- 
portation; and numerous detachments of troops are 
still scouring or scourging (I don't know which) the 
Country. If these Red Republicans are what they 



472 Thuelow "Weed's 

represent them — men ready to murder the Rich for 
the purpose of equalizing Property — then Louis Napo- 
lean is doing a good work. But if, as some say, these 
People are Political Victims, then he is carrying things 
with a high hand. 

Soon after passing Cannes we came to the line which 
divides France from Sardinia. And here the Passport 
and Custom House annoyances commence. The exam- 
ination of Passports first occupied an hour. A mile 
farther on we were brought up by a Custom House, but 
half an hour sufficed to pass our luggage. 

France, as the Alabama member of Congress, Avho 
occasionally amused himself by turning a somerset over 
his desk, said of America, " is a great country," though 
it is not, like ours, " constantly increasing." Crossing 
France in one direction from Boulogne to Nice, we have 
traveled over 800 miles as pleasantly and quietly as you 
travel along the Valley of the Connecticut River. I 
have not even seen, through all the Cities and Towns, 
the slightest disorder or even ill-will. Nor have I, in 
all these places, during five weeks, seen five drunken 
persons. Indeed I cannot remember but one decided 
case. And yet everybody drinks Wine. Some, also, 
drink Brandy, but seldom to excess. There is an 
absence, here, however, of all those attractive mixtures 
and " fixings " known at home as " Punches," " Juleps," 
"Cobblers," " Cocktails," &c, which beguile our young 
men into habits that so often end in ruin. Here there 
are few rummeries and consequently few rowdies. 

French Diligence Horses live hard lives. The Driv- 
ers generally seem incapable of appreciating the noble 
qualities of the Animal to whom they are constantly 



Letters from Europe. 473 

applying the lash. The English and American Drivers 

love their Teams and cheer them along by kind expres- 
sions, which ai - e neither misunderstood nor lost upon 
them. Our Drivers, too, study to ease and favor their 
Horses as much as possible; but the Frenchman 

depends entirely upon his lash. The moment a heavy 
Diligence has been dragged up a long, steep hill, instead 
of allowing his Team to blow a moment, the lash is 
applied and they are forced into a trot or gallop. 

Each Diligence has a Conductor, who times the posts, 
and takes general charge of the Passengers, Baggage, 
&c. The Conductor pays the grooms at every change 
of horses, and pays the Driver at the end of his Koute, 
which is generally after three changes of Teams. 

We reached Nice (which is truly a nice Town) at 
10 o'clock in the evening. I intended to say something 
of Nice in this Letter, but an American gentleman (Mr. 
< '< >- i ii;. of New York) has asked me to Dinner, and as 
that, you know, is a "privileged question," other busi- 
ness must wait. 

Nice, January 20, 1 E 

With Snow on the Mountains in full view, you have 
Green Peas here for Dinner. The Town is surrounded 
and sheltered on three sides by mountains, while in 
front it looks out pleasantly upon the Mediterranean. 
The atmosphere is at once mild and bracing. In the 
new town and over the environs, are large and pleasant 
Mansions occupied by Families who conic here to pass 
the Winter. Rents are moderate and Provisions rea- 
sonable, BO that vim may consult both health and econ- 
omy. It is a favorite resort of the Knglish, of whom 
large numbers are seen on the Promenades and in their 



474 Thuelow Weed's 

Carriages. I met them also at the " Circle," an English 
Reading Room, discussing Lord John Russell, &c, as 
earnestly as if the whole responsibility of Government 
was resting upon each one of them. 

The ancient Town of Nice was built upon a high 
rock which was strongly fortified, but which is now laid 
out in terraces and grottoes, from which you look upon 
the Town, away to the Mountains, and again over the 
Sea to the Island of Corsica. 

I supposed that we had seen narrow streets in 
Rouen, Toulon, &c, &c, but they were only narrow as 
compared with the narrowest part of Maiden lane. In 
the older parts of Nice there are long streets with build- 
ings six and seven stories high not five feet wide. 

The beach and the surf all along in front of Nice is 
as fine for Bathing as that at Rockaway or Newport. 

At our Banker's this morning I met a Lady who re- 
cognized me as an American and introduced herself as 
"Madame Jumel, better known in America," she added, 
" as Madame Buee, though I have resumed the name of 
my former husband." This Lady, though eighty years 
old, has all the vivacity of youth. She is on her way 
to Rome, from whence she is to "return to Paris, take a 
few lessons in Dancing and reappear at Saratoga in all 
my glory." She said that she had crossed the Atlantic 
nine times ; and learning that I came out in the Baltic, 
inquired if "Capt. Comstock did not tell me that she 
was the best tempered and least troublesome Lady Pas- 
senger he ever had." 

I dined agreeably with Mr. Costee, of New York, 
who, with his Brother-in-Law, Mr. Reubell, has passed 
three winters at Nice. Mr. Reubell, whose Grand 



Letters from Europe. 475 

Father was in the French Directory in 1783, and whose 
Father was a General in the Army of France — himself 
a highly intelligent Gentleman — gave me much infor- 
mation which may not be written. His Father and 
Jerome Boxaparte were young Officers at the Island of 
Guadaloupe when the French lost that Island; both 
escaped in an American Vessel and both married Amer- 
ican Ladies at Baltimore. "While Bonaparte was King 
of Westphalia General Reubell was his Aid-de-Camp. 
The Son, who married Miss Coster, is so much dissat- 
isfied with France, in proving recusant to Republican- 
ism, that he is going to America to become a Citizen. 

Hamilton Wilkes, Esq., of New York, is here quite, 
indeed I fear dangerously, ill. 

Among the Americans in Paris who assisted to make 
our visit pleasant there, were Dudley Selden and 
Lady, and G. W. Kendall. 



476 Thurlow Weed's 



XIII. 

SAN REMO, January 21, 1852. 

Two friends, in whose intelligence as Travelers I 
have confidence (Mr. Minturn, of New York, and 
Miss Knower, of Albany, whom we hope to join at 
Florence), had spoken so highly of the land route 
from Nice to Genoa, that instead of taking the 
Steamer last night, with other friends, we left in a 
Vetturino this morning, and this day's ride has amply 
vindicated their judgment and taste. I have never 
passed a day in traveling of such exciting enjoyment. 
We were all day breathing a June atmosphere. The 
Mediterranean Sea, with an unruffled surface, lay 
spread out on our right, while the Maritime Alps, over 
and through which we passed, were in bleak majesty 
on our left. 

At intervals we came to Towns whose ruined Cas- 
tles and crumbling Walls told of the Centuries and 
the Wars through which they had passed. And 
wherever there was soil there was exceeding fruit- 
fulness. The Orange, Lemon, and Fig, along with 
the Date upon the lofty Palm tree, grew luxuriantly. 
And here, as in France, the Vine and the Olive occupy 
every available inch of ground from the mountain's top 
to the Seaside. Everything, however, seems connected 
with the past. All looks hoary. Nothing is modern- 
ized. No habit or fashion changes. You scarcely see 



Letters from Europe. 477 

a Dwelling less than a thousand years old, and most 
of those who dwell in them look as if they were bom 
during the reign of some of the (J.es.uis. 

In leaving here we rise a mountain four miles long, 
the descent of which brought us into Monaco, a 
Domain belonging to a Prince of that name, whose 
sovereignty has the convenience of being the smallest 
in the world. And yet he is " Lord of all he surveys," 
all of which, but for the mountains, might be surveyed 
with the naked eye. His Palace is on a Peninsula 
about as large and not unlike Barren Island, near 
Coeymans. It is strongly fortified, and indeed almost 
inaccessible, as it needed to be, as a protection against 
the Corsairs ; and on this spot over 1,000 inhabitants 
are pent up. This number is one-sixth part of His 
Highness' Subjects. The military force of Monaco 
consists of an hundred Soldiers, whom the Prince 
hires of the King of Sardinia. There is a Custom 
House on entering this principality, but the officers 
■were civil people. The Government is supported by a 
small duty on the products of its subjects, who are also 
required to have all their grinding done at the Prince's 
Mill. 

The Road from Nice to Genoa is truly a great 
■work. It was commenced by the French and complet- 
ed by the Sardinian Government. It was an enterprise 
of greater magnitude and of more difficulty than either 
the Railroad from Springfield to Albany, or of that 
from New York to Albany. And ii greatly surpasses 
both in boldness and sublimity of Bcenery. I have 
been surprised and annoyed at the complacency and 
almost indifference of Foreigners while viewing the 



478 Thuelow "Weed's 

Highlands, but after what I have seen to-day, I am 
dumb on that subject. 

But here the comparison ends. In all else that chal- 
lenges comparison, we are so favored — our blessings 
are so incalculably more precious than those that 
belong to any other People, that we ought to thank God 
on bended knee, night and day, for making us the 
recipients of so many of his richest bounties. There 
are no intellectual, social or domestic relations or enjoy- 
ments here. There is nothing of elevation or refine- 
ment. The masses seem scarcely better fed or cared 
for than the Mules and Donkeys they drive. 

In Towns containing five, six and seven thousand 
inhabitants, all live in narrow, dark, dirty streets, 
occupying cheerless tenements, with such an utter 
absence of even necessary furniture as to render them 
strangers to domestic comfort. 

Here Women, as is too much the case all over 
Europe, do all sorts of Drudgery. They cany weights 
from their childhood, upon their heads, which cannot 
fail to flatten the brain. At a Hotel where we lunched 
to-day, a new building was going up, the stone for 
which were brought by Girls, from the quarry, on their 
heads. Women mixed and carried the mortar. While 
we were there they rested around the building to Dine 
on brown bread and water. They get eight cents a 
day for their labor. 

Alassio, January 22. 

This day's journey has been less interesting than 
that of yesterday. We have been passing along the 
face of barren mountains, between which are intervals 
not much more fertile. The inhabitants of the Towns 



Letters from Europe. 479 

ai*e generally Fishermen, and in person and dress 
resemble the Corsairs described by BYEON. The aspect 
of the Villages is anything but attractive. In riding 
through their streets your olfactory nerves are made 
sensible of the predominance of Onion and Garlic. 
These, however, serve to neutralize other odors even 
more offensive. Olive Oil is brought down through the 
Mountain Passes on Mules in Kegs. They come in 
single file, the leading- Mule wearing a cow-bell to its 
neck, which resounds through the mountain gorges to 
admonish returning Caravans to stop at "a turnout." 
In the Towns the Oil is kept in precisely such Jars as 
we used to see in the Green Street Theatre, nearly 
forty years ago, in the ''Melodrama of the Forty 
Thieves," when "Hop. Robertson," as "Hassarac," 
won thunders of applause. Wine, of which each Pro- 
vince and Town has its own product, is frequently put 
into hogskins that hang out, instead of " a bush," in 
front of their Wine-shops. 

Many of the old Towns are built, as Eagles build 
their nests, in the clefts of the highest rocks. This, 
when war was the principal occupation of Men, was 
their best security. But the practice was attended and 
is attended with inconveniences, first among which is 
that little or nothing grows on these rocks. Another is, 
that Women are compelled to come down, as we see, in 
droves, with baskets on their heads containing clothes to 
be washed in the Mediterranean. One of these lofty 
Towns, containing, apparently, an hundred dwellings, 
and situated on the edge of a mountain, took occasion, 
in one of the early Centuries, to slide down about 200 
feet. It is not known how much of derangement this 



480 Thurlow Weed's 

occasioned, but there is the Town, with its mansions 
mixed up with broken rocks, and its streets rather 
uneven and irregular, but on the whole about as good 
as new ! The fact of the slide is as manifest and incon- 
testable as of those which occurred at Troy — our Troy I 
mean. 

Savona, January 23. 

This is the close of oar third day along the shores of 
the Mediterranean. It brings us within five hours drive 
of Genoa. We have crossed, during the day, Spurs of 
the Appenines. The scenery was truly grand. The 
Road is Tunneled through three mountains at distances 
of from 200 to 400 feet from their summits. We have 
seen nothing for three davs at sea but small Schooners 
and Fishing Boats. You are pained every moment here 
by the degradation of Women. They are invariably 
the drudges. Wherever you meet a Man and Woman 
with a Mule or Donkey, the Man is riding and the 
Woman trudges by its side or behind. Along the road 
are women picking up manure. And at the Hotels, 
Male instead of Female attendants do the Chamber 
Work. When a Lady calls for the Chambermaid a 
Male Waiter appears. 

Savona is a Town of great historical interest. It had 
once the finest Harbor on this side of the Mediter- 
ranean, but the Genoese, in the 16th Century, destroyed 
it by sinking hulks loaded with stones. They have 
been so far removed as to admit vessels of about 200 
tons. We have passed through three Tunnels whose 
excavations are between three and four hundred feet 
below the surface. In merging from one you come in 
sight of Genoa not more than ten miles distant by 
water, but almost as many leagues off by the road. 



Letters from Europe. 481 

The Genoese claim the honor of giving Christopher 
Columbus to the World. He was born, however, in. 
Cogsletta, a suburb Town on the Coast, but lived after- 
wards with his Parents in Genoa. 



61 



482 Thuelow Weed's 



XIV. 

GENOA, January 27, 1852. 

This being the scene of Mr. Heney Wyckoff's attempt 
to enforce his marriage with a lady of large fortune, 
and the place of his imprisonment, I took occasion to 
inquire into the facts. They strike me as quite curious, 
so much so indeed as to be worth repeating, especially 
as the parties are of our own country. The history, 
altogether, is full of Romance (the Romance of truth), 
but I shall give only a simple narrative : 

" Chevalier "Wyckoff," as he is called, is a Philadel- 
phian, well educated, with a fine person and attractive 
manners, who has been figuring in Politics and Litera- 
ture, Fashion and Frolic, for nearly twenty years, and 
is pretty well known in Europe and America. He 
accompanied Fanny Elsslee to America as her Friend 
and Manager. He was, and some say is, wealthy, but 
extremely penurious. He sent for the American Con- 
sul after his arrest and demanded to be exempted from 
the ordinary process of law, on the ground that he was 
employed by Lord Palmeeston to promote, by corres- 
pondence, &c, friendly relations between England and 
America. But the Sardinian Authorities would not 
listen to this demand, and he was finally induced to 
employ Counsel. He was committed to prison for a 
criminal offense, but an effort is making, with a proba- 
bility of success, to get his case on to the Civil Calen- 
dar. This would greatly mitigate his punishment. 



Letters from Europe. 483 

The Lady is Mass Mari Gamble, daughter of John- 
Gamble, Esq., and niece of Col. Gamble, of Philadel- 
phia. She came, when a child, to England, where she 
was adopted and educated by her uncle, Mr. Donlop, a 
gentleman of fortune. In person, she is small and del- 
icate; in mind and manners cultivated and accom- 
plished ; in conversation, spirited and attractive ; in 
temperament excitable, but confiding and affectionate. 
How, it may be asked, do you know all this I It is the 
result of observation during an interview of four hours, 
to-day, when Miss G., with the utmost frankness, gave 
me a free revelation of the origin, progress and results 
of her acquaintance with the " Chevalier." And as the 
whole matter is, in a few days, to become Judicially 
public, I have her permission to give the facts to such 
as feel an interest in them. 

Mr. TVyckoff came to London seventeen years ago 
with Letters of introduction from Miss Gamble's rela- 
tives, to her Uncle, who, together with her Aunt, 
received him very kindly. He was much at Mr. Dun- 
lop's House, and the family grew quite fond of him ; so 
much so, that for three or four years, in Town and 
Country, and in traveling, he was frequently an inmate 
of the Family. During this time, being nearly of the 
same age, Mr. W. and .Miss G. were much together and 
always friends — but only friends, no thought or dream 
of love entering the hearts or heads of either. 

Mr. Wyckoff went for a year or more on the Con- 
tinent, and from thence With ELSSLERtO America. When 

he returned to England, though the acquaintance was 

nnewed there -\v;i> no renewal of former relations; and 
for six or eight year- Miss Gh -aw nothing and heard 



484 Thuelow Weed's 

little of Mr. W. In the interval her Uncle and Aunt 
had died, providing handsomely for her, bnt leaving the 
bulk of their fortune to an only child. This Cousin of 
Miss G. was of infirm, health, and with this Cousin she 
lived in seclusion, soothing his sufferings and softening 
his pillow, until, about a year since, he died. From 
this Cousin Miss Gamble inherited a large fortune. 

And four days after this death, Mr. Wyckoff, who 
was in Paris when it occurred, appeared in London. 
He announced his arrival to Miss Gr. in a very appro- 
priate Letter of condolence, asking permission, if her 
health and spirits would allow of it, to call. That per- 
mission was readily given. Mr. W. called, expressed 
warm sympathies and awakened affecting recollections 
of dear friends now no more. He called again, and 
again; but always as the friend of other days. He 
finally, expressing solicitude for Miss G.'s health, 
recommended change of ah and scene. This accorded 
with the advice of other friends. Deciding to pass a 
few weeks at a watering place, Miss G. invited two 
■ female friends, the Lady and Daughter of Mr. Leslie, 
the Artist, to accompany her. She left London, with- 
out any suspicion that either her Person or her Purse 
had taken Mr. W. captive. But three days after they 
were established in their Hotel, that gentlemen announced 
himself, as Dinner was ordered, to Mrs. Leslie, with 
whom he was acquainted. He was asked to Dinner 
and passed the Evening agreeably with the Ladies. 
The next day he walked with them, expressing regret 
that his public duties would soon call him away. 
Again he Dined with them, and afterwards, by invita- 
tion of Mrs. L., had a seat at their Table. Ten days 



Letters from Europe. 485 

glided pleasantly away, when for three or four days he 
occupied much of his time in writing what lie spoke of 
as an important Letter. One Evening, having spoken 
of his intended departure the next morning, he said, as 
the Ladies were ahout to retire. "Miss GrAMBLE, will 
you do me the favor to read this Letter? It contains 
a history of my past life, of my present position, and 
has reference to my future hopes. I need advice, and 
ask it of the Daughter of my best friends." Then, for 
the first time, a thought of Mr. W.'S intentions crossed 
her mind. She said, in reply, " Pray, excuse me. I am 
unfitted by habit and too little acquainted with business 
to give advice." But Mr. W. persisted, urging their 
early accpiaintance, &c, and she took the Letter. 

This Letter was addressed to Mrs. Groat, of Lon- 
don, a Lady of position whose acquaintance Miss G. 
had made through W., and of whom he was always 
speaking with high admiration. The Letter, after 
giving a history of his pursuits, objects, and aspira- 
tions, stated that having exhausted all enjoyments of 
travel, general society, and fashionable life, his spirit 
required repose; that he had been long seeking and 
had finally found an object worthy of his affections ; 
that this object, though sufficiently attractive in person, 
was most valued for her high intellectual qualities, the 
charms of conversation, the purity of heart, joined with 
all the domestic graces which make happy home cir- 
cles; concluding with an avowal that he had deter- 
mined to offer his hand and heart to Miss ; ; wna.i:, and 
soliciting Mrs. ( Jkoat's good offices in his behalf. 

Marly the next nioniiiej .Mi-> I.vmuu: wrote a brief 



486 Thuklow Weed's 

but explicit rejection of this offer, which she read to 
her friend, Mrs. Leslie. That Lady urged, first that 
Miss Gr. should reflect upon the subject for a day or 
two, and next, that she should at least gild the bitter 
pill she was administering. But Miss Gr. desired to 
blast this flower in its bud, and sent the reply as she 
had written it. 

I forgot to say that in his Letter Mr. W. urged that, 
as Miss Gamble had been left quite alone in the world, 
he was constrained, both by duty and affection, to 
become the protector of one so dear to his best friends. 

Mr. "Wyckoff's seat at the Breakfast table was 
vacant that morning. Mrs. Leslie suggested that they 
ought to send a servant, saying that Breakfast waited. 
The servant returned with Mr. W.'s compliments, but 
that he was at that moment departing, and must deny 
himself the pleasure of breakfasting with the Ladies. 
The servant brought also a Letter to Miss Gr., in which 
Mr. W. complains of the severity of her note, saying 
that the manner of the rejection had superadded morti- 
fication to grief, and expressing the hope that if they 
could not be lovers they should at least remain friends. 
Thus they separated. But Mrs. Leslie, aided by a 
much loved female domestic by whom Miss Gr. had 
been brought up, and who had been nearly half a 
century in the family, prevailed on Miss Gf. to reply to 
Mr. W.'s last letter, and, while adhering to her deter- 
mination, to soften the terms of her rejection. 

In another week Miss Gr. returned to London sup- 
posing that Mr. W. had gone, as he said he must, to the 
Continent, on official business. Immediately, however, 
came a note from Mr. W. asking permission to call, not 



Letters from Europe. 487 

to urge his suit, but to place their relations upon their 
former tooting. He called, but carefully avoided the 
forbidden topic. He came again, and then again, 
finally proposing to call in the evening, but uttered no 
word of love. The evening visit was prohibited. 
During this time Miss G. saw much of Mrs. GrBOAT, who 
favored the views of Mr. W. And by this time he had 
won over the old Nurse entirely. Mr. W. himself 
finally took occasion to press his suit. Miss G. less than 
ever inclined to listen, determined to leave London. 
Mr. "W. followed her to Paris, where, through the inter- 
vention of a mutual friend, he reestablished friendly 
intercourse. Ere long, however, he became tender 
again, when Miss G. informed him that her purpose was 
unalterable, and that unless he spared her from further 
persecution, he must wholly discontinue his visits. Soon 
after this she left Paris for Switzerland, hoping to escape 
from the importunities of her enterprising Lover. But 
a few weeks afterwards Mr. W. appeared to her, most 
tvnexpectedly, upon the Alps at the House of the Monks 
of St Bernard ! Here salutations were unavoidable, 
Their descent was by Mules, but at a point two hours 
distant Mr. Wyckoff had a Carriage waiting 1 . He 
invited Miss G. to accept a seat in his Carriage. This 
was declined. He then, insisting that the long ride on 
the mule would weary her, urged her to take his Car- 
riage and give him the mule. But she persisted in 
returning as she had ascended. At the foot of the 
mountain they necessarily occupied the same Hotel, 
where Mr. W. embarrassed the Lady l>v seeming, in the 
presence of other lodgers, to be her traveling companion. 
She left for Geneva, Mr. W. following. There she kept 



488 Thurlow Weed's 

her traveling companion, Miss Bennett, and her Nurse, 
constantly with her. Mr. W. complained of this and 
asked for a brief interview, after which he said he 
would leave Geneva. She walked with him alone by 
the Lake shore. He urged marriage vehemently. As 
a Boat with a party of Ladies and Gentlemen approached, 
he took her hand saying, " I will not release this hand 
until you say it is mine." The Party approaching, with 
some of whom Miss G. was acquainted, as they passed, 
could not fail to see the position she was in. Her 
efforts were unavailing. " Release my hand," she 
demanded, as she observed that they were attracting 
notice. " Will you marry me V he asked. " Yes," she 
replied, " if you will release my hand." Thus the first 
promise of marriage was obtained. Returning to the 
Hotel, he informed the old Nurse that her Mistress had 
consented to marry him. Having secured a promise, 
Mr. W. was impatient to arrange time and place. Miss 
G. said she must first consult her friends at home, and 
especially Mr. Bates (of the House of Baring & Co.), 
who is her Trustee. It was then agreed that Miss G. 
should write to Mr. Bates, and that Mr. W. should 
return to Paris, leaving the Lady free until she should 
hear from Mr. B. 

But time and reflection increased rather than dimin- 
ished her aversion to this marriage. She had many 
reasons to doubt the sincerity of Mr. W.'s affection. 
She could not understand how, having known her well, 
in her best days (I repeat her language), with indiffer- 
ence, he should have fallen suddenly and vehemently 
in love with her. 

No reply came from Mr. Bates ; and finally, in reply 



Letters from Europe. 489 

to Mr. W.'s pressing Letters, she wrote him a Letter 
reviewing all that had passed and concluding with a 
declaration that she did not and could not love him, 
and therefore would not marry him. She then hurried 
to London. Mr. Hates had written a Letter which she 
hud not received. He said that if her affections were 
interested, he would institute such inquiries in regard 
to Mr. Wvckoff as the importance of the step demand- 
ed. She answered that neither her judgment nor her 
heart approved it, and that she had reiterated to Mr. 
W. her refusal to marry him. She communicated this 
determination to other friends, who had already heard 
from \V. that all was settled. 

A few days brought Mr. "\V. to London, insisting 
upon a fulfillment of her engagement. Miss G. refused 
either to many or to see him until some friends induced 
her to relax in the latter respect. But his visits soon 
became irksome, and she directed her servants to deny 
her as often as Mr. YV. called. Suspecting that Mrs. 
Groat, whom he had ever spoken of as a Vestal, had 
sanctioned Miss G.'s rejection of him, he wrote the 
former a Letter in which he said that Mrs. G. was in 
his power, and that he would blast her if he found that 
she had crossed his path. 

Weary of all this, Miss Gamble again departed for 
the Continent. But either when now in London, or 
previously, WXCKOFF had bribed Lous, a Swiss Courier, 
who had been a long time in her service, and had her 
fullest confidence. 

At Turin, about two months since, the Courier came 

into Miss Gamdi.i.'s Parlor saving that "Mrs. Austin, a 

Lady from London, who had just arrived at the same 
62 



490 Thurlow Weed's 

Hotel, had a Message from her friend, Mrs. Geoat, and 
desired to see Miss Gamble in her Apartment." She 
immediately followed the Courier, who mounted to the 
third story and proceeded to the end of a long Hall 
where the Door of a Parlor stood open. Looking in 
and seeing nobody, she inquired where Mrs. Austin 
was. The Courier replied, she will be up in a moment, 
and desired that you would sit. Miss G said, "As Mrs. 
Austin is not here to receive me, I will return. When 
she comes let me know." Half an hour afterward the 
Courier came and said that Mrs. Austin was weary 
with travel, and had retired. In the morning the 
courier reported that "Mrs. Austin" left in an early 
train. All this seemed strange, but excited no suspi- 
cions. But "Mrs. Austin," in the person of "Chevalier 
Wyckoff," stood behind the door of the apartment to 
which Miss Gr. had, by false pretenses, been beguiled, 
ready to close and lock it the moment Miss Gr. had 
passed its threshhold. Mr. W. kept himself incog. 

During the day the Cornier told Miss Gamble that 
the Hostess was endeavoring to cheat them, and that he 
had a quarrel with her. The motive for this will be 
apparent. Wyckoff's movement had attracted the atten- 
tion of the Landlady, who saw that either Miss G had 
an intrigue with W., or that she was betrayed by the 
Courier, and took occasion to say so to the Courier. 
On the following day the Landlady asked Miss Gamble 
how long the Courier had been in service, how well she 
knew him, and whether she approved of all his pro- 
ceedings 1 She answered unhesitatingly that her 
Courier had been long with her, and that she did not 
doubt that his conduct was entirely proper. Indeed, 



Letters from Europe. 491 

supposing the Landlady was herself in fault, she was 
replied to rather tartly. Thus, while confiding in a 
perfidious servant, Miss Gr. wronged a person who 
desired to warn her of danger. 

In the course of an hour or two, the Landlady sent 
to inquire when Miss (i.'s apartments would be vacant. 
Indignant at this insult, Miss Gf. replied "to-morrow 
morning." She determined to go to Genoa and join 
some English friends who were staying there, and 
directed the Courier to be ready for the early train. 
In the evening he came and said it was quite unneces- 
sary to leave so early, and as the Nurse was ill, it 
would be better to take the second train. Miss Gr. said 
" that would bring us into Genoa in the evening," and 
that she would rather start early than arrive late. He 
replied that the second train (which only w r ent half-way 
to Genoa) would bring them into Genoa before dark, 
and seemed so confident that Miss G. yielded. 

At the Railway terminus she resumed her Carnage 
(people take then- Can-iages on the Railroads), but its 
progress was so slow that she several times endeavored 
to hurry the Courier, who kept saying that they would 
be at Genoa in good time. Another Carnage was 
observed behind them, keeping at a considerable dis- 
tance. At the first post, the Postilion was changed, the 
Courier assigning as a reason, that the first boy was not 
the regular Postilion. Still they lingered, and as tho 
weather was cold and threatened rain, Miss G. con- 
cluded to stop at the first post out of Genoa. But the 
( rOUrier objected, insisting that they should arrive quite 
early, that it would not storm, and finally that it was 
impossible to stop because there was no Hotel in which 



492 Thuelow Weed's 

she could be comfortable. She said that she would 
rather take the chances even in a bad Hotel than go on, 
but the Courier could not permit her to be lodged so 
miserable. Looking into Mueeay's Guide Book, which 
lay on her seat, she found that there was a very good 
Hotel at the place in question, and then she peremptorily 
directed him to stop. The Courier then selected Rooms 
which separated her from her Companions, but she 
changed that arrangement. 

The next morning they proceeded to Genoa, and on 
the following day, Louis, the Cornier, came to her greatly 
distressed, apparently, at having, as he said, lost their 
Passports. This, he feared, as things were in an unset- 
tled state, might subject her to inconvenience, if not 
danger. He had endeavored, he said, to obtain a Pass- 
port, but was told that it could only be done by Miss 
G. herself, on application to the Intendant of Police. 
She directed him to call a Carriage, and she, along with 
Miss Bennett, would go immediately for the Passport. 
He implored her not to inform Miss Bennett of his mis- 
fortune, as she was always finding fault with him. 
Instead of Miss Bennett, therefore, he took her old 
Nurse with her. They were driven to a distant part of 
the City, and Miss G. was conducted up a long flight 
of stairs into a large apartment. Here the Courier left 
them, saying he would see if the Intendant was ready 
to receive them. He soon returned, saying that Miss 
G. must go unattended into the Intendant's Room. She 
followed the Courier, who ushered her into a Room 
where, instead of the Intendant of Police, she encoun- 
tered Mr. Wyckoff ! After locking the door, he informed 
her that the House was occupied by himself and those 



Letters from Europe. 493 

only ■who were in his service; that as she had evaded 
her promise to marry him, he had taken steps with a 
view to its consummation ; that her Courier had long 
acted by hi* orders ; that lie personated Mrs. Austin at 
Turin ; that his Carriage followed hers from that City; 
that he had intended to have asserted his rights before 
she arrived at Genoa, but was thwarted by her stopping 
before night ; that she was now entirely in his power, 
but inasmuch as all he had done was prompted by affec- 
tion, having her happiness as well as his own for its 
object, he trusted that she would save him from resort- 
ing to a painful alternative by cheerfully fulfilling her 
eng , ag , einent. 

Some three hours passed in unsuccessful entreaties 
and threats on his part, and in unavailing efforts on hers, 
to escape. She then, finding an opportunity, seized the 
tongs, broke the windows and made an outcry, but he 
immediately placed his hand upon her mouth and forced 
her back to a seat, soon after which he made an attempt 
to administer Chloroform, unsuccessfully ; but he said 
if driven to make a second attempt she could not escape 
its effect. This alarmed her so much that she again 
promised to marry him. He said that where so much 
happiness depended upon a simple promise, so easily 
violated, that she ought to assure him of her sincerity ; 
that he must have some guaranty ; and finally, that he 
would send for a Clergyman and be married instanter. 
To this she interposed positive objections, but as posi- 
tively promised to marry him at a proper place and 
time. He asked if she wonld give him a written promise 
<>t' marriage, to which she replied affirmatively. He 
then said that he desired to protect himself against the 



494 Thuklow "Weed's 

possibility of another disappointment, which, now that 
he seemed so near the possession of the only object for 
whom he lived, he feared would drive him to madness ; 
and proposed that the written engagement should con- 
vey to him half her fortune in case of her refusal to 
marry him. To all this she assented, and at his request 
wrote the Promise of Marriage, and the Forfeiture, in 
the form and manner dictated by the impressive Lover. 

Things being thus arranged, Mr. W. said he would 
order a Carriage. Leaving the Apartment and passing 
through another, he was followed stealthily by Miss G, 
who, hearing the voice of her old Nurse in an outer 
room into which W. had passed, she rushed forward and 
fell into her Arms. They conveyed her back to the 
Apartment in which she had been confined, where she 
remained with W. and her Nurse, in a high state of 
nervous excitement. And finally, when restored, an 
hour or more was passed, in efforts to tranquilize and 
reconcile her to what had passed ; and then, at three 
o'clock at night (or morning rather) she was permitted 
to return to her Hotel. 

On the following day, after consulting with the British 
Consul, Miss Gamble went with him to the real Intend- 
ant of Police and preferred a complaint, on which Mr. 
Wyckoff, with his confederates, her Courier and Valet 
(a resident of Genoa), were arrested and committed to 
Prison, where they await a Trial which comes on next 
week. 

This is, briefly, Miss Gamble's account of a strange 
story. She showed me Letters corroborative of it. It 
is, I believe, a truthful relation. 



Letters from Europe. 495 

Mr. Wyckoff, of course, has his own Version. He 
insists that Miss G. loved him quite devotedly, but had 
been influenced by others to wrong both herself and 
him. For the purpose of giving the affair the character 
of a civil offense, he drew up and swore to a statement 
in which, among other things, he says, that their last 
week in London was one of such endearment and dal- 
liance as their betrothal rendered proper and natural. 
This Miss G. utterly denies. She did not, she says, dur- 
ing that time see Mr. "W. alone, and finally denied her- 
self to him, leaving London, as she intended, without 
his knowledge, though the sequel proved that he had 
perfect knowledge of all her movements through a 
faithless Courier. 



496 Thurlow Weed's 



XV. 

GENOA, -January 24, 1852. 

This City is in the form of a Crescent, surrounded by 
mountains, but with an opening to the Mediterranean. 
It is, next to Marseilles, the most important commercial 
city of the Mediterranean, and indeed at this moment 
there seems to be more shipping here than at the 
former Port. Its population exceeds 160,000. Its 
aspects are quite pleasant. Upon the mountain side 
are magnificent groves surrounding equally magnifi- 
cent Palaces. These indicate the former wealth of 
Genoa, as its crowded harbor and busy Wharves tell 
of its present prosperity. 

Quite eager for American news, I started imme- 
diately after our arrival here, for the Consulate, and 
was fortunate in obtaining a copy of the Weekly 
Courier and Enquirer of the 1st instant, from which I 
was happy to learn that the Fire at the Capitol was 
not as disastrous as we first heard. As the Portrait of 
Columbus is destroyed, our Consul is endeavoring to 
obtain a copy of the only original in existence, which 
belongs to a Family in this City. The Consul here, 
Doct. Baker, of Ohio, and his amiable Lady, are ex- 
cellent People, who pay every attention to Americans. 
But they will not remain long, for while the duties are 
onerous the compensation is totally inadequate. There 
have been four Consular changes here within less than 



Letters from Europe. 497 

as many years. The onlv American consul who con- 
trived to live here did so by means as discreditable to 
his country as to himself. Of that individual they tell 
sad stories here. If he did not swindle upon a large 
scale he is greatly belied. The way in which a certain 
Picture was obtained, and the way that a certain Ivory 
►Savior was not paid for, are calculated to make an 
American blush. 

There is just now much solicitude felt throughout 
Sardinia in relation to events in France. Here the 
principles and privileges of Constitutional Government 
are much better understood than I had supposed, and 
far better appreciated than in France. Some abuse 
these privileges. The Press, in some instances, mis- 
takes Freedom for License, and thus wounds Liberty ; 
but in the main the People of Sardinia have shown 
themselves worthy of the Freedom they enjoy. And 
the King, though brother-in-law of the Emperor of 
Austria, is true to the principles he professed when his 
Father, unfortunate but faithful, abdicated in his favor. 
But it is feared that adverse influences are pressing him 
too hard. The usurpation of Louis Napoleon and the 
resignation of Lord Palmerston are regarded as the 
worst possible events for the cause of Constitutional 
Freedom. Sardinia is now the only Constitutional 
Asylum for Fugitives. Thousands of Italian, Hunga- 
rian, and French Refugees are here trembling. Un- 
fortunately, Sardinia lias to encounter not only the 
force of Civil Despotism, but has incurred the displeas- 
ure of the Church of Rome by denying its Civil 
Supremacy. That Church, 1 am pained to see, is now 
the ally of Despotism. How far it is to be blamed for 

63 



498 Thuelow Weed's 

this I will not undertake to say. The present Head of 
the Church signalized his Accession to Power by acts 
worthy of the highest commendation. His Govern- 
ment, at once enlightened and parental, looked alike to 
the civil and religious welfare of Ms People. It 
seemed, for a season, like the dawning of a brighter 
day for Italy. But the Romans, like the French, were 
either unfitted for, or are unworthy of good Govern- 
ment. Not satisfied with privileges which they had 
not enjoyed for ages, and ungrateful for favors which a 
philanthropic Ruler had, at great hazard to himself, 
granted, they took advantage of the installments of 
Freedom given them, to overthrow their Benefactor 
and drive him into Exile. Betrayed by those to whom 
he desired to be a Father, is it strange that the Pope 
should act with those by whom he was restored to 
Authority 1 I believe that the principles and sympa- 
thies of Pius IX were for Freedom and with the 
People. But the good things he did as an earnest 
of good things to come served only to make the People 
his enemies. And now he " puts his Trust in Princes." 

In Genoa there is a strict observance of the Sabbath, 
as there is indeed all over Sardinia. Here the shops 
are all closed, and all labor is suspended. The City 
resembles any one of our own Cities on Sunday, with 
this exception, that Street Minstrels, Wizards, &c, are 
allowed to amuse the multitude. All, however, is order 
and quiet. 

The Sardinian Soldiers, in this City, make a very fine 
appearance. The Officers are highly intelligent men. 
The Sergeants and Corporals look fit to command, and 
even the Privates dress, look and act like Gentlemen. 



Letters from Europe. 499 

It is difficult to believe that the Sentinels you meet on 
duty are only common Soldiers. The Band which was 
out with the Troops to-day, is the largest and finest I 
ever heard. 

[Mr. \Y. here gives an epitome of Chevalier "Wyck- 
off's case. But as a full account of the Chevalier's 
"Bold Stroke for a Wife," appears in Letter XV, we 
only subjoin a paragraph or two in regard to the 
eaged Adonis:] 

By the Laws of Sardinia, a Prisoner is denied the 
benefit of Counsel, and kept entirely secluded until the 
Testimony against him has all been taken. This was 
a slow process, and for three weeks Wyckoff was left 
quite alone to contemplate the chances of going for ten 
or fifteen years to the Galleys ! 

Finally, our Consul, Doctor Baker, got permission 
to visit him. "Wyckoff assumed that the American 
Government, whose dignity had been insulted by his 
imprisonment, was bound to see him righted, and insist- 
ed upon making his case a National affair. Like honest 
Davie Deaxs, on another occasion, Wyckoff at first 
rejected the ordinary means of defense, but has since 
concluded to employ Counsel. His fate is still in 
doubt, though an effort is making to place his defense 
upon grounds that will let him off with a year's imprison- 
ment, lie talks much of his relations and employment 
as a public functionary, and tells queer things about 
his former connection with the Now York Herald. 
These, however, are not of a character to be repeated, 
whether true or false. 



500 Thuelow "Weed's 



XVI. 

GENOA, January 27, 1852. 

Chueches, Palaces and Painting's, in all of which Genoa 
abounds, attract the attention and excite the admiration 
of Visitors. In the magnificence of their Architecture, 
the beauty of then- Churches and the excellence of their 
Pictures, the Genoese may justly be proud, for in each 
of these respects they enjoy a rich inheritance. But 
those have all been so well and often described that I 
shall make no attempt. We have passed three days 
here most agreeably. 

The presence of the Family does not here, as else- 
where, hinder you from visiting their Palaces. Servants 
show you through the Apartments without disturbance 
to their inmates. These Palaces, in magnitude, are 
equal, and in finish, inferior to those of England or 
France. In Paintings they of course excel,' for Italy is 
not only the birth-place but the permanent abode of 
Art. There must be inspiration either in her skies or 
her atmosphere, else why should she be ever prolific in 
Masters of the Art, while elsewhere eminent Artists are 
" like Angels' visits, few and far between V The 
moment you touch the Soil of Italy, this Art manifests 
itself even in their humble Villages and unpretending 
Churches. At two or three small Towns through 
which we passed, before reaching Genoa, we visited 
Churches with Fresco and other Paintings of more 



Letters from Europe. 501 

interest and merit than the very expensive one which 
adorns the jronreous Madeleine Church in Paris. 

The history of Genoa is deeply interesting 1 . Its 
Commercial advantages and its Wealth, during all the 
ages of War, made it a point of attack for the ambitious 
and the rapacious. It has sustained many exhausting 
Sieges, and has prosecuted many sanguinary Wars 
against its neighbors. The "oldest inhabitants" remem- 
ber and relate the horrors of the Siege of 1800, when 
the City was in possession of the French under the 
command of Marshal Massena, with the Austrians, 
70,000 strong, surrounding them by land, and Lord 
Keith, with the British Fleet, blockading it by Sea. The 
enemy were repulsed at every point, but as all supplies 
were cut off, time finally achieved a Victory. This 
was not effected, however, until every Animal, including 
horses, dogs, cats, &c, had been devoured. During the 
Siege, 15,000 inhabitants were swept off by diseases 
induced by famine ; and when Massena finally capitu- 
lated, of his 7,000 troops, only 2,000 had strength to 
appear on parade. 

Large quantities of American Cotton come to Genoa. 
Five Vessels are now here with Cotton, after discharg- 
ing which they go to Leghorn for their return cargo, 
and failing to get Marble there, they run over to Sicily 
for fruit. The ship Cantatrice, Capt. Devereaux, of Bos- 
ton, had a passage of 112 days from New Orleans. A 
Ship that left New Orleans the same day, and which he 
fell in with four days afterwards, was here six weeks 
before him. Capt. Crowkll, with another Ship, left 
New York for New Orleans after Capt. Devereaux 
sailed from the latter Port, discharged and took in 



502 Thurlow Weed's 

cargo there, and was at Genoa first, And yet the Can- 
tatrice is a fair sailing Ship, and Capt. D. is a capable 
officer, with thirty-five years' experience. This shows 
how capriciously the winds blow. 

Capt. Nobee, of the Bark C. S. Bevan, was dread- 
fully gashed last night by a Sailor, who attempted to 
murder him. He was cut in the head and face. The 
Sailor was brought before the Consul this morning', and 
will be sent home in Irons for Trial. 

The King of Sardinia is very popular with all classes. 
The People speak of him with great affection. His 
manners are simple, and his sentiments and sympathies 
are with his subjects. But I fear that he will not be 
able to resist the pressure of Despotism. Within a 
week, as I learn from an intelligent source, a Minister 
representing a Monarch of Despotic policy at Turin, 
said: "Your Majesty sees the shape things are taking," 
to which the Sardinian King replied, " I do." " Well," 
added the Diplomatist, " I hope your Majesty is pre- 
paring to meet the Sovereigns of Europe in then* efforts 
to secure repose." " Yes," said the King, " I am so far 
prepared that I can pack my Trunk and be off to Eng- 
land or America in half an hour after I find myself 
unable to protect the rights and promote the happiness 
of my People." All I see of his people induces a 
belief that the Sards are worthy of such a King. That 
the Genoese are I have no doubt, for there is that in 
their conversation, their bearing, their spirit, as in their 
history, to show that they breathe an atmosphere 
strongly impregnated with the spirit of Freedom. 

We are quite Royally lodged here. Our Hotel, base 
as are the uses to which it has come, was a Palace once. 



Letters from Europe. 503 

The stairs and floors are of beautiful Marble. Our 
Parlor and bedrooms form a suite, which, if thrown to- 
gether, would make a large Concert Room. 

Sedan Chairs are used hero by Ladies attending Par- 
ties, Balls and Theatres. This is necessary from the 
narrowness of the streets, there being but three or four 
considerable Avenues large enough for carriages. 

The costume of Genoese Ladies is very graceful. 
Very few, even of the best classes, wear bonnets, a 
long white gauze veil having been found more conven- 
ient and becoming. Women, in humble ranks, wear 
muslin shawls with gay colors. 

I said I would not attempt to describe Churches, nor 
will I ; but I never go into one of these deeply impres- 
sive Edifices without regretting that we have not at least 
one of them in America, so that those who cannot come 
so far to see them, might nevertheless enjoy the privilege. 
In all probability none such will ever be erected in 
America. But one such might be purchased and sent 
home in detail. Or at any rate the whole interior of 
an Italian Church might be taken there without 
destroying its effect or beauty. The expense would be 
greatly less than the cost of transferring the Column 
of Luxor from Egypt to Paris. 

Leoiior.v, January 28. 

We left Genoa at 8 o'clock last evening in the 
"Capri," a Mediterranean Steamer that runs between 
Marseilles and Naples, arriving here at 7 o'clock this 
morning. She is a will built English Steamer with 
tolerable accommodations, and exacts an intolerable 
amount of passage money. The fare from Genoa to 



504 Thuelow "Weed's 

Leghorn (but a little over 100 miles) was $10 each. 
There is a steamer four times a week between Mar- 
seilles and Naples. The passage occupies four days, 
though their running time is but half that, as they lay 
over, during the day, at Nice first, then at Genoa, then 
at Leghorn, and then at Civita Vecchia, reaching Naples 
on the morning of the fourth day. This gives Travel- 
ers an opportunity of making brief visits at interesting 
points along the Mediterranean. I infer from the 
circumstance that of the Passengers on board the 
"Capri" last night eleven were Americans, that there 
is a large sprinkling of our Countrymen in Italy. 
Leghorn possesses a good and convenient Harbor, and is 
Commercial in all its aspects. Alabaster, beautifully 
wrought, is for sale here. English and American 
Travelers stop here for a day or two to purchase and 
ship gems of this description. 

Pisa. 

After breakfasting at Leghorn, we came by Railroad, 
twelve miles, to this Town of world wide notoriety on 
account of its Leaning Tower, which is cylindrical in 
form, 50 feet in Diameter and 178 feet high, with an 
inclination of nearly fourteen feet. It was erected in 
the twelfth century. Twelve bells, the largest of 
which weighs 2,000 lbs., have been ringing their changes 
from its summit for six centuries. 

Near this Tower is a Cathedral, claimed to be one 
of four of the finest Churches in the World, or rather 
the Cathedral with its Baptistery and Cemetery form a 
group exciting great interest and curiosity. This 
Cathedral was conceived by the Pisans at the close of 



Letters from Europe. 505 

a War which left them enriched with the spoils of their 
vanquished enemies. It was fifty-four years in the 
process of erection. It is elaborately adorned with 
Paintings. The chased silver work around the Altai- 
cost 36,000 crowns. It has been twice stolen by and 
ransomed from the French. 

The River Arno runs through Pisa, The land 
between Leghorn and Pisa is frequently submerged, 
but produces fine grass. It has a popidation of nearly 
30,000. The climate is good. The great fertility of 
soil for which Tuscany is so famed is apparent about 
Pisa, Both here and at Leghorn, however, the presence 
of Austrian Soldiery is a disagreeable feature. The 
idea of having the Army of a Despot quartered upon a 
People eminent for their devotion to Law and Order, is 
veiy repulsive. But the once honored and beloved 
Grand Duke of Tuscany, whose strongest defenses 
were in the hearts of his People, by abrogating the 
Constitution which he had approved, now supposes it 
necessary to surround himself with Austrian Bayonets. 



64 



50t> Thuklow Weed's 



XVII. 

FLORENCE, February 4, 1852. 

If Florence could exchange climates with the Island of 
Madeira, there would be at least one Paradise on 
Earth — that is, if Paradise be that place of beautiful 
perfections with which it is invested by hope and faith. 
The bountiful soil of Tuscany supplies all wants of 
man. Genius has adorned the Galleries of Florence 
with attractions which continue to charm through never 
so long a life ; for, like the plays of Shakspeare, I am 
sure these Pictures may be studied forever. And as for 
Palaces, there are more than enough for all who wish 
to occupy them, and that too at rents marvelously low. 
Why, you may live in a Palace with ample grounds 
(including Garden and Vineyard) fpr less rent than is 
paid for any two and a half story building in our imme- 
diate Hudson street neighborhood. And the prices of 
all needful articles correspond, Provisions, Fuel, Wine, 
Service, &c, being more than reasonably cheap. A 
person with a small income at home, well invested, may 
come here to enjoy the " fat of the land," and become 
rich without working, if he lives long enough. 

Take an example. The Villa and Palace of the 
Salviata Family is situated a mile and a half from the 
City, and joins that of their great rival Family, the De 
Medici. Beside its ample Gardens, Orangery, &c, 
there are several hundred acres of vineyards, Olive 



Letters from Europe. 507 

Orchards, Meadow and Pasture Lands. In out-houses 
there is all that befits a Palace. In the Gardens there 
are Statuary and Fountains. The Saloons, Dining Hall, 
Library and Boudoir of the Palace are hung 1 with 
Paintings b}- the old Italian Masters. From the Palace 
you have fine views of Friesole, the Ancient City of the 
Etruscans, Valmarovio (in viewing which both Milton 
and Washington" Irving fertilized their classic spirits 
with beautiful imagery), and of the City of Florence, 
which spreads out like a Mosaic Carpet at your feet. 
This fine old Palace, with its appropriately rich furni- 
ture, and its broad grounds, is occupied by Col. 
AVinthrop, of New Orleans, who pays for all these lux- 
uries the sum of Si, 200 per annum ! 

Again, Mr. Tweady, with his Lady and Miss Knoweb, 
of Albany, occupy pleasant furnished Apartments on 
the Arno, with a large open corridor from which you 
have a fine view of the River, the Consini and the sur- 
rounding Villas, for which they pay $160 a year. 
Dinners are served from an excellent Hotel for them- 
selves and two servants for 81 per day. Their Break- 
fasts cost less than half a dollar. Wood (which is here 
more abundant) costs 86 a cord. Wine (of Tuscan}-, 
pure and delicious) at from ten to twenty cents a 
bottle. 

Mr. Page, an artist of established home reputation, 
has been here two years, studying diligently and work- 
ing hard. Few artists are better qualified to profit by 
advantages which Italy offers, for he has mind, genius 
and taste. He studies Titian, whose colors are unri- 
valed, and means to perfect himself in that school. His 
copies of that great Master are admirable. A Flora, bj 



508 Thurlow Weed's 

Page, which has been purchased by Mr. Shaw, of Bos- 
ton (who is living here with his family very pleasantly), 
compares favorably with the original. If Page were 
an Englishman he would be overwhelmed with orders 
for Pictures. But we are not yet a picture-buying 
people, though our wealthy citizens spend then thou- 
sands much less rationally. 

Mr. Nichols, a Painter of modest but real merit, from 
Connecticut I believe, is also here, endeavoring to 
" climb the steep and rugged hill of fame." But unfor- 
tunately, his talents and his virtues are his only capital, 
and these, though excellent in then way, will not pass 
at his Banker's for golden Neapolitans nor silver Pias- 
tres, without which his wife and children may not sub- 
sist. I saw some very fine Pictures in Nichols' Studio 
yesterday, two of which were, happily, purchased by a 
Lady who commissioned me, at his own prices, but for 
much less than their intrinsic value. We were made 
acquainted with Mr. Nichols by a Lady from Albany, 
to whose quick eye to discover genius he is indebted for 
all the encouragement he has received here. 

Powers, the American Sculptor, whose genius has 
conferred honor upon his country, and whose fame is 
to endure, with his works, through all time, has resided 
in Italy seventeen years, fourteen in Florence and three 
in Rome. No American comes to Florence, of course, 
without paying homage to this shrine. But as there are 
no Saints in our National Calendar, we only find plain 
Hiram Powers, whose " shingle," as we express it, hangs 
out to indicate his Studio, in lingering about which 
three hours passed very delightfully. Among the objects 
which first attract attention is a group of familiar heads 



Letters from Europe. 509 

which the Artist modeled in America, viz.: Chief Jus- 
tice Marshall, Gen. Jackson, Judge Burnet, George 
McDuffie, Mr. Van Burkx. Mr. Graxnkr, Col. I'rkston 
and Joiix S. Peesto.x. Of the two hitter gentlemen, 
and of Mr. Longworth, of Cincinnati, Powers speaks 
with great affection and gratitude, as his early and best 
friends, without whose encouragement he says he could 
not have been where and what he is. 

Besides a large building where Ins huge marble 
blocks are first reduced to form by ordinary workmen, 
Powers has three Apartments connected with his own 
Sanctum, where his assistants are engaged in executing 
his designs. Most people know, I suppose, what I did 
not, that eminent Artists have little or nothing to do 
with the marble. The " Greek SlaJTe," the " Fisher Boy," 
upon which we have looked with wonder and admira- 
tion, came in all their beauty and perfections from the 
hands of subordinates, all the thought, genius and taste 
having been bestowed upon his plaster models. 

Powers is engaged with two works, one or both of 
which will, I trust, ultimately adorn the Capitol. One 
of them is to represent America, and the other Califor- 
nia. They are happy conceptions. Their emblems 
and allegories are appropriate and poetical. It will, as 
he is only able to give intervals of time to them, take 
two or three years to complete these Statues. 

If tliis great Sculptor had not devoted himself to his 
present Art, he would have' been a must useful and 
accomplished Machinist, for his genius could not have 
been repressed, though he is apparently unconscious of 
being anything more than a plain Vermont scion 
engrafted upon a Cincinnati stalk. Though destined 



510 Thurlow Weed's 

to labor here for a long time, his affections are with and 
for America, where, as he hopes, the Sun of Freedom 
that lights him to his rest, will shine upon his Children. 
Powers works as skillfully in iron, steel and brass as he 
does in marble. In his Studio is a Smithy (if that 
word may be used), where he makes all his own tools — 
tools by means of which his Artistic labors are much 
simplified and facilitated. 

The absorbing objects of interest here are the Picture 
Galleries. In this respect the wealth of Florence can- 
not be estimated, for her Paintings have no money 
valuation. The gold of California could not purchase 
them. 

The Uffiri and Pitti Galleries are situated on oppo- 
site sides of the Arno, but connected by a continuous 
wall and covered walk for the convenience of the Grand 
Duke, whose Ancient and Modern Palaces are adjacent 
to either Gallery. The collection in the Uffiso Gallery 
is said to be the most varioiis, if not the most valuable, 
in the world. To speak understandingly of these works 
of Art, taste, cultivation and reading are indispensable. 
Deficient in all these qualities, I shall of course be care- 
ful not to expose my ignorance. But even an unin- 
structed eye observes with interest the infancy, youth, 
manhood and maturity of Art as displayed on these 
walls, in the origin, progress and perfection of Painting. 
This peculiarity is observable in the works of the great 
Masters, whose early efforts stand here in contrast with 
their finished productions. You see the genius of 
Raphael, first in the bud, then half blown, and finally 
in all its glory. And you see collectedly, Art rising, 
step by step, age after age, from its dawning dimness, 



Letters from Europe. 511 

its partial development, its growing- beauties, to its full 
orbed effulgence, through the tenth, eleventh, twelfth, 
thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. 
And then, when several Masters had, by long struggling, 
attained the summit of their Art; when half a dozen 
Schools of Painting had been perfected; •when none 
were bold enough to think of rivaling Raphael, Titian, 
Correggio, Lloxardi de Vinci, Michael Axgelo, &c, 
&c, their Pupils and Successors became copyists, and 
then of course the Art began to decline. 

You are struck also in these Galleries by the fact that 
most of the old Masters, nearly all, indeed, drew their 
subjects from the Scriptures. The Savior, the Martyrs, 
the Virgin, the Holy Family, and other powerfully 
wrought Scriptural incidents seemed to call forth their 
highest efforts. Each of the great Masters painted 
portraits of themselves. Those of Raphael, Titian, 
Rembrandt, &c, are to be seen in these Galleries. Of 
Landscapes you see but few, and those, if I may 
hazard an opinion, inferior to many of the productions 
of Modern Artists. 

That illustrious Flemish Artist, Rubens, whose Pic- 
tures adom the Galleries of Europe, appears to advan- 
tage here, though his very highest efforts are to bo 
seen at Antwerp, his birthplace. And this is true, I 
believe, with most of the old Blasters. The Galleries 
of France, Germany, Prussia, [taly, &c, as well as the 
collections of England, boast of their MuBTLLOS, but 
the finest Pictures of that immortal Artist are only 
found in Spain. 

Much of the Ancient Statuary in the Florentine 
Galleries bears evidence of the " crash of matter," if 



512 Thurlow Weed's 

not of the " wreck of worlds." The finest productions 
are more or less mutilated. Arms, legs, nose, &c, have 
had either to be supplied or mended. Even the 
" Venus de Medici," that embodiment of all that is per- 
fect and beautiful in the female form, is seamed all 
over. But fractured and patched as it is, the power of 
Art is so triumphant in this work that none surpass 
and few approach its excellence. This Statue was 
exhumed, two hundred years ago, from ruins in which 
it lay buried nobody knows how many centuries. 
Another greatly admired Antique representing a Boy 
taking a thorn out of his foot, has had " every bone in 
his body broken," in the setting of many of which no 
great science was displayed ; yet no such other Marble 
Boy has been or probably will be created, though 
exactly such Boys are seen wherever thorns grow 
(where do they not grow 1) and Boys go barefooted. 



Letters from Europe. 513 



XVIII. 

FLORENCE, February- 5, 1852. 

The Araiy of Austria occupies Tuscany. This is an 
ugly feature, and one which galls the Tuscan. The 
streets of Florence are desecrated by the tramp of six 
thousand Foreign Soldiers. In other parts of the 
Dukedom there are eight thousand more mercenaries. 
The Troops have to be suppoi'ted by a People whose 
Constitution they came here to trample under their 
feet. 

In the general uprising of the European People, 
which temporarily promised so much to the cause of 
Free Government, the Grand Duke of Tuscany granted 
his People a Constitution. But when Despotism ral- 
lied for the re-subjugation of the Continent, the Grand 
Duke of Tuscany sympathized with his kinsmen. This 
occasioned tumult here, and the Grand Duke fled to 
Austria, from whence he returned with the Army of 
the Emperor to maintain his authority over a People 
whose affections, in all past time, were his best defense. 
Before these adverse events, the Grand Duke and his 
Family were objects of affectionate solicitude all over 
Tuscany. The People honored and loved their Ruler. 
But all is changed. Now when he appears on the 
Corsini, at the Opera, or in the Streets, "none are so 
poor as to do him reverence." 

The Austrian uniform is a white frock coat with sky- 
Go 



514 Thuelow Weed's 

blue pants. With the troops here are two or three fine 
German Bands of Music. 

The Corsini, which is the Champs Elysee of Flor- 
ence, presents many attractions on Thursdays and 
Saturdays, where, with good weather, you see all the 
Rank and Fashion of Florence. The Coaches and 
Four of the Grand Duke, of the King of Naples (some 
of whose Family are here), and of Prince Demidoeff, 
of Russia, who resides here, with their handsome and 
dashing outriders, make a brilliant display. Beside 
these are numerous and rich private Carnages and 
" much people," to whom the German Bands discourse 
the music of the best Masters. 

The accounts given of the wealth of Prince Demi- 
doeff seem fabulous. He gives Dinners from a service 
of Silver which cost $40,000. His income is derived 
from mines of Malachite and Platina, and amounts, it 
is said, to half a million of dollars annually. 

Our Ladies passed the afternoon yesterday very 
agreeably at the Palace of Salviata, where Mrs. Wnsr- 
theop received them most cordially. Having been 
shown through the splendid Apartments and enjoyed 
its hospitalities, they strolled about the grounds, pluck- 
ing Oranges, Roses, Japonicas, &c, &c, all the while 
in full view of the snows that rest upon the surround- 
ing mountains. The latter feature, in February, you 
will readily enough comprehend, but that Fruits and 
Flowers should be growing, openly, in such close prox- 
imity to snows, seems like an atmospheric paradox. 

It is rather difficult, after visiting the Galleries of 
Florence frequently, and feasting all the nobler senses 
with such glorious Paintings, to forbear speaking of 



Letters from Europe. 515 

them. Visitors soon grow wise — wondrous wise in 
Pictures. After two or three visits they select their 
favorite Artist, and begin to affect knowledge of colors, 
drawing, light and shade, effect, and all that sort of 
thing. "Some are of Paul," while "others are of 
Cephas," and all are disputatious. This is, I suppose, 
proof of the truth of the maxim, that people " talk most 
about what they know least." 

There are several old Churches, whose Architectural 
and Historic interest equal that of any others in the 
world. The Duomo is esteemed to be one of the great- 
est achievements in Architecture. It certainly sur- 
passes anything I have ever seen. In contrast with 
this sublime and beautiful edifice, St. Paul's Cathedral 
in London, and Notre Dame, and the Madeleine Church 
in Paris, are lost. The Campanella, or Tower belong- 
ing to, yet separated from the Church, nearly three 
hundred feet high, is built entirely of beautiful black 
and white Marble, highly polished and elaborately 
adorned. The Baptistery of the Church, though also 
an independent structure, in the form of a Rotunda, and 
a noble edifice, completes the group. The Doors of the 
Baptistery, with their exquisite bas reliefs, excite every- 
body's admiration. Michael Ancelo is said to have 
exclaimed, when they were finished, that they were fit 
to hiTonii' tin- gates of Paradise. These edifices were 
nearly an hundred years in the process of construction. 

Santa Croce, a Church built in the 13th Century, 

though rude in Architecture, is rich in historical asso- 
ciations. Its Frescoes, done by the best Artists of that 
day, combine manifest beauties with glaring defects. 
Hut within these walls repose the remains of men whose 



516 Thurlow Weed's 

memories never die. Here are the Tombs of Dante, 
Michael Angelo, Machiavelli, Galileo, along with 
many others less distinguished abroad, but eminent at 
home. 

The large Convent connected with Santa Croce is 
now occupied as barracks for a Regiment of Austrian 
Soldiers. A Sentinel refused us admittance, but a Monk 
who observed it came out and conducted us through 
the Convent. 

Among the literary notabilities here are Mr. Levee, 
who sends his " Maurice Tiernay " in chapters to Lon- 
don ; and Mrs. Teollope. I do not know where men- 
tal labors could be more agreeably prosecuted than in 
Florence. 

Families residing here enjoy desirable facilities for 
Education. Instruction is both thorough and cheap. 
Mrs. Shaw, of Boston, who is devoting herself to the 
Education of her Daughters here, tells me that for Les- 
sons in the French and Italian Languages, Drawing, 
Music and Dancing, from accomplished Masters, they 
pay (for four scholars) $10 per month. 

There is just now quite a musical excitement here, 
occasioned by the debut of a Prima Donna belonging 
to a noble Family — a Family that has produced a 
Pope and two or three Cardinals. She has, in addition, 
youth, beauty, and high cultivation in her favor. Her 
passion for the Opera was so strong as to overcome the 
remonstrances of Parents, by whom she is to be disin- 
herited. "We went to see her in " Lucretia Borgia." 
The audience was large and fashionable. If the 
enthusiasm she inspired may be taken as evidence of 
merit, her singing and acting realized an interest which 



Letters from Europe. 517 

belongs to other times. The applause increased as the 
Play progressed until it became deafening. In several 
of her most effective passages she was interrupted by- 
spontaneous outbursts of applause, and between the 
acts she was called out two or three times to receive 
the homage of her admirers. With all this she was 
manifestly delighted to intoxication. These things, 
however, will fail to compensate, permanently, for the 
great sacrifices she is making for them. 

In dress, manners, and even in the appearance of 
the Florentine Ladies, there is little to distinguish them 
from our own countrywomen. At the Opera and on 
the Corsini you see Ladies whom you might meet in 
New York without supposing them of Foreign birth. 

Florence is a very quiet, orderly City, and one in which 
there is very little of abject poverty. Nor are you, as 
in most other European Cities, annoyed by Beggars. 
There is neither Police nor "Watchmen, and apparently 
no necessity for either. Nor is there, fortunately, any 
occasion for Temperance Laws or Societies. The 
cheap Wines of the Country are drank by the Peas- 
antry and the Laboring Classes generally, but they are 
free from " all that intoxicates." 

Tuscany, with proper tillage, might be made to pro- 
duce enough for a population three times as large as it 
now supports. In the hands of American Farmers it 
would make everybody so rich that they would snap 
their fingers at California. But though cultivated by 
people who are by no means the idlest of the Italians, 
they are immeasurably behind us in enterprise and 
industry. The land is generally owned by small Pro- 
prietors, who lease it to Peasants, who supply the 



518 Thuklow Weed's 

labor, and then the product is divided between Proprie- 
tor and Peasant. The Leases are for one year, and 
the agreement is verbal ; but a good Farmer keeps his 
land as long as he pleases. The Proprietor furnishes 
the Stock. The increase is divided. All improvements 
are made at the expense of the Proprietor. All the 
grains of a Northern climate, along with every de- 
scription of vegetables, are produced in abundance. 
Tuscany is one great Vineyard. The fields are fringed 
with vines, which, running from tree to tree, form a 
graceful hedge. They are of luxuriant growth, and 
yield a profusion of grapes. Tuscan Wine is therefore 
plentiful and cheap. Large quantities of it are sold in 
flasks holding nearly half a gallon, at prices vaiying 
from two to three cents a flask. 

Civita Veochia, February 11. 

Having passed a fortnight very pleasantly at Florence, 
we left on Monday morning for Naples, via Leghorn. 
The simultaneous arrival of four American Ships, on 
that day, had created quite a stir in the Harbor. These 
Ships (the George Washington, Cantatrice, Eva, &c.,) 
had all been lying at Genoa, and left that Port in com- 
pany. 

Mr. Binder, the American Consul at Leghorn, is a 
most attentive and intelligent gentleman — quite worthy, 
I am sure, of the confidence reposed in him. Though 
not an American by birth, he resided many years in 
Charleston S. C, where he married the daughter of 
Gen. Sumpter. It is pleasant to meet Officials abroad 
who manifest such a cheerful readiness to render yoiu - 
visit pleasant. 



Letters from Europe. 519 

We left Leghorn in the Steamer Herculaneum, at 7 

o'clock P. m. Heretofore we had seen the Mediterranean 
in repose; hut now its tranquillity had been disturbed, 
and we were destined to a widely different experience. 
The first wave encountered after leaving the Harbor, 
sent the Ladies to their State Rooms, where they lay 
for eighteen hours enduring all the horrors of seasick- 
ness, mitigated, so far as mitigation "was possible, by 
the assiduous attentions of " Antoine," that Italian Stew- 
ard whose skill in " loosening stays," &c, &c, was com- 
mended, several years ago, by a New York Lady. The 
Ladies now in "Antoine's" charge, did not require that 
service of him, but they concur in commending his 
attentions and kindness. Instead of reaching Civita 
Vecchia at 7 this morning, when due, we arrived at 3 P. 
m. As the gale was increasing, the Captain (or rather 
the Board of Health, by whom such things are regu- 
lated) decided to remain here until 1 o'clock to-morrow. 
This intelligence was grateful to our seasick voyagers, 
who rallied with alacrity, and waited impatiently for a 
tardy permission to land. This was obtained at 4 
o'clock, and we soon found ourselves discussing a light 
Dinner at the " Albergo Orlandi," a tolerable Hotel. 

On board our Steamer were an hundred Soldiers, 
just recruited in the Swiss Alps, for the Army of the 
King of Naples, who, for obvious reasons, prefers them 
to Neapolitans about his Person and Household. They 
were young Peasants, who, tempted by large pay (twice 
the sum received by Native troops), enlist for four years. 
1 knew that in former times the Soldiers of Switzerland 
were thus fanned out by their Rulers, but was before 



520 Thurlow "Weed's 

unaware of the fact that they went voluntarily into 
Foreign Service. 

Civita Vecchia, the Seaport for Rome, is less than 
forty miles distant from the " Eternal City." It is a 
small town, with massive buildings, strongly garrisoned 
by French Soldiers, with a wretched population. The 
Harbor is small, with two narrow entrances, and is 
admirably sheltered. The surrounding country is a 
dreary waste. It looks as if it might have rested, in its 
nakedness and sterility, ever since the Flood. 

This morning those of our Passengers journeying to 
Rome were furnished with Vehicles looking nearly as 
old and quite as primitive as the face of the country. 
And everything around wears an aspect of age and 
decrepitude. The Fishing Boats, the Nets, and the 
Fishermen themselves, not less than the patched gar- 
ments in which they are partly clad, seem to have 
belonged to past ages. Their teamsters violate the 
Scripture, which forbids "unequal yoking," by coupling 
an Ox with a Mule, and a Horse with a Cow, several 
instances of which I saw this morning. 



Letters from Europe. 521 



XIX. 

X.vrLES, Febri-arv 16, 1852. 

This City contains more than four hundred thousand 
inhabitants. Its Harbor and Bay are claimed to be the 
most beautiful in the World, though the palm is dis- 
puted by the admirers of Constantinople and Valpa- 
raiso, while others, as the}" well may, place that of New 
York in competition with either and all. In scenery and 
associations we cannot claim for New York the mag- 
nificent features which Naples presents. We have no 
Vesuvius, with its ever smoking and sometimes fiery 
eruptions. Nor have we, as in view of Naples, Islands 
that have shot up mountains high out of the Sea. Nor 
can we point, as the Neapolitans do, to the spot where 
St. Paul landed on his way to Rome; where Tiberius 
died, and Virgil was entombed. But in place of these 
memorials of Antiquity, we can boast of high moral 
achievements. New York, with a Bay almost as broad, 
and during the Summer months, as bright and beautiful 
as this, looks out upon mighty Ships and Splendid 
Steamers wafting the products, the Luxuries and the 
Treasures of the World to and from nearly twenty-five 
millions of enlightened, prosperous, happy Freemen. 
How gladly would any or all the hoary and decayed 
Nations of Europe exchange their memories and their 
miseries, their Palaces and their Prisons, for the fresh- 

66 



522 Thurlow Weed's 

ness and fertility, tlie privileges and the bounties enjoyed 
in America. 

Naples is in the form of a Crescent, extending between 
three and four miles, though far the largest number of 
its inhabitants are packed away in a quarter covering 
not more than 150 or 200 Acres of ground. The City 
is built upon a narrow belt nearly level with the Sea, 
but is sheltered all around, by a mountain which rises 
boldly immediately behind it. Directly behind our 
Hotel is a perpendicular ascent of nearly three hundred 
feet. The City is overlooked and commanded by the 
Church, Castle and Fort of San Elmo. From the Fort 
you are stared at, impudently, by several hundred 
heavy pieces of Cannon. It is garrisoned by Swiss 
Soldiers, some 15,000 of whom are in the service of the 
King of Naples. 

The King's Palace, a plain but extensive building, is 
in the City, with the Bay on one side and the principal 
street on the other. That he " is clothed in purple and 
fine linen and fares sumptuously every day," is probable ; 
and that Beggars lie (not at his gate because the Sen- 
tinels won't let them) all round his Palace, is certain. 
These Beggars are not only afflicted as Lazarus was, but 
are infected in a way that makes one crawl while look- 
ing at, or thinking of them. 

The U. S. Ship Independence, Capt. Jamison, is the 
only Man-of-War in the Bay. The Neapolitan Fleet 
(not formidable) lies moored in the Harbor. Commo- 
dore Morgan, who is in command of the Mediterranean 
Squadron (now reduced to a single Ship) lives on 
shore. 



Letters from Europe. ">_.". 

In the Harbor, the stripes and stars are seen from a 
single .Ship, the -New England," one of our largest 
class of merchantmen. The Hon. E. J. Morris, our 
capable Charge d' Affaires here, lias given an account 
of the miserable and ruinous annoyances to which this 
Ship has been subjected. She came from New Orleans 
with Tobacco and Cotton. The Board of Health hav- 
ing been informed, in 1850, by the Neapolitan Charge 
d' Affaires in Brazil, that the Cholera was then raging 
in New Orleans, this Ship was quarantined for thirty 
days ; but inasmuch as Tobacco is not regarded as an 
infectious agent, and inasmuch, perhaps, as tin.- Govern- 
ment monopolist may have been in need of this part 
of the Cargo, the Captain was allowed to discharge it. 
No person is allowed, however, to go on board the 
Ship, nor is the Captain allowed to come on shore. 
And he is ordered now to go to an Island twelve miles 
off to land his Cotton, after which he must remain there 
in Quarantine sixteen days before returning to the City 
to take in Cargo. 

.Mr. Morris remonstrated, first to the Board of Health, 
then to the Ministry, and finally to the King, against this 
arbitrary, oppressive, stupid regulation. He has shown 
them the injustice and absurdity of subjecting a Vessel 
coming from a healthy port, in a healthy season, with a 
clean bill of health, to such ruinous restrictions, insisting 
that a course so contrary to the usages of all enlightened 
Commercial Nations must keep Merchant Ships away 
from tlii- Port, and in this ease subject the Neapolitan 
Government to a jn>t demand for indemnity. 

The Musical circles haw been discussing for several 
days the chances of success or failure in the case of an 



524 Thuelow Weed's 

Englishman who has presumptuously announced him- 
self for a part in an Italian Opera ! The Italians pre- 
dicted failure, while the English only said, " He shall 
have fair play. We will all go to the Opera." The 
Debutante is a son of Braham (younger than him in 
America), the once great English Vocalist. Having 
seen and heard the elder Braham, though in the " sere 
of life," and having also heard the Son, who was, and 
perhaps is, in America, without being at all struck with 
admiration of either, I anticipated little interest in the 
efforts of this gentleman. But I accepted Mr. Morris' 
offer of a Seat in his Box. The Opera House of San 
Carlos is the largest and finest in the world. It has 
180 boxes, holding from seven to twelve persons ; and 
a thousand can be crowded into the Parquette. The 
Orchestra is a powerful one, and the Scenery magnifi- 
cent. Last night there was a large and fashionable 
audience. The first Act of the Opera, after a Ballet, 
went off with spirit. Mr. Braham appeared in the sec- 
ond Act. The profound stillness was unbroken even 
by a loud breath. He looked pale, but the first note 
sounded showed firmness. He sang on until the au- 
dience, satisfied with his execution of a difficult pas- 
sage, manifested its approbation by slight expressions 
of surprise rather than of applause. But at the con- 
clusion of an Air there was a brief but unequivocal 
demonstration in his favor. The scenes changed and 
Braham appeared again with a Lady. There is a 
sharp, malicious hiss. The lady attempted to sing but 
was repulsed, I know not for what offense ; but Braham 
was compelled to go on without support. And now his 
success was triumphant. The applause was general 



Letters from "Europe. 525 

and hearty. After the curtain fell, the Italians were 
warm in their expressions of admiration, concluding, 
however, with their old remark, that though Bkaiiam 
had surprised them, "Englishmen cannot sing Italian 
Music" As Naples is now the seat of the Operatic 
Muse, Mr. Bbaham having "conquered" even "the 
jiii judices" of a critical audience, he has great reason 
to regard his reputation as established. He certainly 
passed a severe ordeal, for I never saw one so discrim- 
inating or so cruel. In the course of the evening a 
brilliant and favorite singer, who omitted a passage in 
his part, was driven from the stage. 

The Neapolitan Navy, though small, is efficient. The 
King has fifteen War Steamers, nine of which are in 
this Port, together with twelve Ships, all small, but fine 
vessels. The Steamers were built in England. They 
are moored at the Royal Dockyard by the King's 
Palace. The Naval Barracks also join the Dockyard. 
Everything about these Vessels and Dockyard is in 
admirable order. 

The Mountain against which Naples rests is of Tufa 
of a yellowish color, which cuts like our clay, but which, 
by exposure to the Sun, becomes as hard and durable 
as granite. Of this material Naples is built. Cement 
made of Volcanic ashes and sand is said to be even 
more durable than stone or marble. 

Italv. you know, abounds in Macaroni and Vermi- 
celli. The making and eating of these articles enter 
into the occupations and appetites of every < 'ity, Town 
and Village. It is used in many forms' of which we 
have no knowledge. It enters into all their Soups 
and Pastry, and into many of their .Meat dishes. And. 



526 Thurlow Weed's 

though I started with prejudices, I must say that these 
dishes are invariably good. 

Naples boasts of making the finest Macaroni in Italy. 
I visited a small town at the foot of Vesuvius yesterday, 
where thousands of bushels of Wheat were being made 
into Macaroni. The Wheat is first subjected to a kiln- 
drying process, being spread on tiled roofs which are 
heated gently from fires within and from the Sun with- 
out. It is afterwards ground coarsely, mixed with water 
and kneaded into a paste, which is subjected to action 
by pounders, somewhat resembling those used in driving 
piles. The Paste is then forced through machinery 
which gives it its form and name, some coming out 
Macaroni and some Vermicelli, each taking, however, 
many varieties of form, some long and thin like paper, 
some like ribbons, some in balls, and others like beans, 
peas, and even as small as mustard seed. 

At Genoa, from which place I think we get most of 
our Macaroni, Saffron is put into the Paste, which gives 
it its yellow tinge. Here it is nearer the color of bread. 
Not only the Italians, but all who visit Italy, become 
very fond of this description of food. The impression 
which I think prevails in America, that Macaroni and 
Vermicelli manufacturers are not particularly clean, is 
erroneous. There is no good ground of objection to 
this food on that account. 

The Lagrime Christi and Falernian Wines are made 
from Vineyards which surround Vesuvius, and though 
delicious, are strong and even fiery. If tempted by 
the fine flavor of these Wines, to drink more than two 
glasses, the blood remains heated for several hours. 



Letters from Europe. 527 

There are but few Americans here now, Rome being 
at present the point of most attraction. Prom our own 
State I have only met Mr. George Tibbits, of Troy, 
who, with his companion, Mr. WARREN, leave this after- 
noon for Rome. Gen. De Peyster, of Dutchess county, 
who is intent, as I learn, upon acquiring Military infor- 
mation, is also here. 

I presume that information of the death of John R. 
Kane, at Palermo, has reached New York. 



528 Thuklow "Weed's 



XX. 

NAPLES, February 20, 1852. 

The day chosen for our visit to the long buried City of 
Pompeii proved auspicious. "We had the benefit of a 
bright sun and a balmy atmosphere. To us it was a 
day of deep, absorbing interest. We lingered for six 
hours about the now solitary edifices and silent streets 
which, two thousand years ago, teemed with a dense 
population. 

It is twelve miles from Naples to Pompeii. The road 
runs along the Bay shore at the foot of Vesuvius for ten 
miles, and then turns to the Southeast through a Valley 
and near the River Sarno. which is supposed to have 
been its ancient boundary, though there is now a fertile 
valley a mile in extent between the City and the River. 
In going to Pompeii you pass through Portici and Terni 
del Greco, Towns that have been built upon lava foun- 
dations, and are sure to be destroyed when Vesuvius 
discharges itself in this direction ; and yet the inhabit- 
ants live on as little concerned as we are with the idea 
that the world is, at some future period, to be destroyed 
by Fire — an idea, by the way, which finds strong cor- 
roborative evidence in the fact that internal fires are 
rending mountains and upheaving seas throughout a 
region hundreds of miles in extent. 

The ancient City of Pompeii is plainly indicated by 
a ridge or mound extending from the base of Vesuvius 



Letters from Europe. 529 

to its excavated Amphitheatre, which is situated at its 
eastern extremity. Not much, if any, more than one- 
third of the City, has been excavated ; and most of this 
was done by the French, though the work has been 
progressing moderately under the Neapolitan Govern- 
ment. The task is herculean, for the City lies buried 
under volcanic earth from ten to twenty feet deep, and 
as the roofs of the buildings were all crushed, the apart- 
ments were of course jilled with solid earth. 

Volcanic soil is very fertile. The unexcavated por- 
tions of Pompeii are liighly cultivated. Whatever is 
planted or sown hero produces abundantly, Extensive 
and beautiful Vineyards grow and bear luxuriantly. 
These Vineyards give us the Lagrime Christi and Faler- 
nian Wines, which, though most delicious, are heating 
and fiery, as may well be inferred from the nature of 
the soil which produces the grape. 

There are about fifty laborers engaged now in excava- 
tions. We were allowed to use the Pick, but not to 
take away any of the Spoils, though, like other Visit- 
ors, we did obtain a lew specimens, among which were 
fragments of stucco and Etruscan ware. Whenever a 
Sovereign visits Naples the event is signalized by devel- 
oping, in his presence, the contents of a House, and 
these are given by the King to his Royal Guest. 
Everything valuable found at Pompeii has been care- 
fully preserved hin- in tin- Museum, to which, as well 
as to Pompeii, strangers have free admission. 

The excavations display Stiv<-K Institutions, Dwell- 
ings, Shops, &c, &c, in a much nunc perfect condition 
than I had supposed. Tin--*- are all satisfactorily identi- 
fied. There is neither doubt nor obscuritv as to the 



530 Thuklow "Weed's 

Pantheon, the Tribunal, the Temples of Iris, Bacchus, 
Jupiter, Hercules; the Theatres, the Baths, the Houses 
of Diomede, Panza, &c, &c. Not only the walls of 
these buildings, but then different compartments, with, 
in some instances, elaborate Fresco Paintings, are seen. 
Entire streets have been excavated and renumbered. 
Wine and Oil Stores were identified by the Jars and 
other Vessels in which these liquids were kept, and 
which are still in use here. In, a large Bake House, 
the Ovens of which are perfect, Bread, with the name 
of the Baker stamped on each Loaf, was found. In 
Diomede's Wine Vault, the Wine Jars are still standing 
against the wall, close to which several skeletons were 
found, one of which was supposed to be either the 
Wife or Daughter, from the rich necklace, bracelet and 
ear-rings that adorned the person of the sufferer. Near 
the gate of the city leading to Herculaneum the skele- 
ton of a Soldier who perished on duty, with his armor 
on and his arms by his side, was found. The Sentry 
Box in which this Soldier was found is perfect. 

The Amphitheatre was a noble structure. The seats 
were of marble. Near the Arena are dens or cells in 
which the Wild Beasts with which the Gladiators con- 
tended were caged. In one of these the skeleton of a 
Lion was found. In this Amphitheatre it is said that 
20,000 spectators could be seated. 

The Streets were paved with large Stones of irregu- 
lar size and shape, but with a flat surface, in which 
were cavities evidently caused by the wheels of Vehi- 
cles. The sidewalks are raised like ours, and hand- 
somely paved with pebbles, and around Temples, &c, 
with Mosaic. In front of the Home of the Vestals there 



Letters from Europe. 531 

is a fine Mosaic pavement, with the word "Salve" 
(welcome) on the sill at its entrance. In one of the 
largest and most elegant Houses were Marble Dining 
Tables. 

The King keeps intelligent guides at Pompeii for the 
twofold purpose of showing Visitors through the City 
and protecting its treasures. We were fortunate, in 
addition to the information given by the Guide, in 
having Mr. Morris, our representative to this Govern- 
ment, who knows Pompeii as he knows his own City 
of Philadelphia, with us. Having wandered for three 
hours, which took us about two-thirds through the City, 
we sat down upon the broken wall of the Tribunal, in 
view of the Pantheon, the Theatre, &c, &c, to our 
Lunch, moistening our bread with Falernian Wine, 
distilled from Vineyards growing over a City whose 
inhabitants, eighteen centuries ago, held this beverage 
as fit for their gods. Having discussed our viands, we 
resumed and completed our pilgrimage, passing out of 
the City at a gate which opened up an Appian Way 
that led to Rome, on either side of which, for some 
distance, were Tombs. I wish it were possible to 
impart to friends even a faint idea of the solemnity and 
impressiveness of Pompeii. Though walking literally 
among the Tombs, all the aspects of Pompeii are cheer- 
ful. The Streets are clean, and all around you is a 
stillness in harmony with the scene and its associations. 
You look up on smoking Vesuvius, down which the 
burning Lava ran, making for itself channels which 
still remain. 

Having thus explored Pompeii, we repaired to the 
Museum where its recovered treasures are deposited; 



532 Thuelow Weed's 

and here, again, mingled amazement and admiration, 
with even increased intensity, are awakened. These 
treasures (belonging in part to Herculaneum) fill eight 
spacious Halls, each devoted to classified articles. The 
room we visited first, contains Kitchen Furniture of 
every conceivable description, mostly in bronze, and 
bearing a strong resemblance to articles now in use. 
In this department of domestic life, the Pompeiians were 
not behind those of our day. An adjoining Room is 
devoted to Etruscan Vases of beautiful form. In this 
Room, also, are several magnificent Mosaics. Then 
comes a Room devoted to Glass, in various colors, and 
for nearly all the purposes for which it is now used. 
And yet, while this knowledge belonged to the buried 
inhabitants of Pompeii nearly two thousand years ago, 
its uses and its existence was comparatively unknown 
in England a thousand years afterwards ! Another 
Room is devoted to Sacrificial Vases and other append- 
ages of Heathen Worship ; among which are Vessels for 
Incense, Idols, Deities, &c, &c. Then comes a Room 
devoted to Weights, Measures, Scales, Lamps, Candela- 
bras, &c, &c, among which are Steelyards with the 
name of Augustus inscribed under figures of Romulus 
and Remus. These articles show a higher state of 
civilization, in this respect, than existed in England 
during the Reign of Elizabeth ; and prove that the 
ages which succeeded were indeed dark ones. Two 
Rooms are devoted to Miscellaneous articles, including 
Iron Stocks found in front of a Prison, Agricultural 
Implements, Vases, Essence Bottles found in the Bath 
Houses ; a Helmet with bas relief representing the con- 
flagration of Troy ; Bells of various descriptions, and 



Letters from Europe. 533 

those for Cattle precisely such as are used now; with 
Flat-irons, similar to our own ; Letters, for Stamping 
Bread, so like Type that the Art of Printing ought not 
to have been a comparatively modern discovery ; Mir- 
rors ; Opera Tickets, numbered to correspond with the 
seats ; Musical Instruments, Dice, Pins, Nails, Locks, 
Keys; Bits, found in the mouth of a Skeleton Horse; 
Paints, including Rouge, &c, &c. In another Room is 
a vast collection of memorials belonging to the Amuse- 
ments, Revels, &C., of the Pompeiians. These indicate 
a very great fondness for Festivals, Masquerades and 
kindred amusements. Among the divinities to which 
they sacrificed, it is quite evident that Bacchus and 
Venus were most popular. 

"The Cabinets of Gems" are in a Room in which 
Visitors, Ladies especially, linger longest. This Room 
is floored with Mosaic taken from Pompeii. There, 
carefully preserved in glass cases, are Gold Necklaces, 
Bracelets. Pins, Ear and Finger Rings, Chains, &c, 
similar to those now worn, together with a great va- 
riety of golden ornaments. There are, also, Silver 
Cups, Plates, Spoons, Salvers, &c. Here, too, are 
loaves of Bread, Honey, Grain, Soap, Oil and Wine in 
flasks, and Eggs, unbroken and but slightly discolored 
Here, too, are bits of wearing apparel, of wool and 
linen, and skeins of Sewing Silk. 

The Statuary, arranged in Rooms of great magni- 
tude upon the ground floor, presents objects of pro- 
ton in I admiration. In looking at these marble and 
bronze presentments you cannot doubt for a moment 
that you have the face, head, features, and expression 
of illustrious persons who sat for them. In many 



534 Thurlow "Weed's 

instances these heads indicate clearly the qualities, good 
or bad, noble or ignoble, for which the originals were 
distinguished. And in this description of Art Pom- 
peii and Herculaneum were far in advance of an age 
which supposes itself immeasurably ahead of the 
Ancients. Even the Statuary of the palmiest days of 
Rome fails to surpass that which has been rescued 
from the Ruins of these buried Cities. And the extent 
and variety of these works of Art is truly amazing. 
There was more fine Statuary buried in these two 
small Cities than has been produced, throughout the 
world, during the last three Centuries. 

Among so many hundred Statuary gems challenging 
admiration, it is difficult to discriminate, though there 
are some figures that fasten themselves upon your 
attention and memory. Such, for example, as the 
"Wounded Gladiator," "The Mother of Balbus," 
" Agrippina, the Mother of Nero," " Titus," " Caligula," 
"Claudius," "Marcus Aurelius," "The Hunter," "A 
Faun reposing on a Skin of "Wine," " Csesar," " Augus- 
tus," " Infant Hercules strangling Serpents," " Maximus 
in the Costume of a Consul," "Alexander the Great 
mounted on Bucephalus, whose trappings are of Sil- 
ver," " Brutus," " Cicero," " Homer," &c. But the head 
which, for the last two or three years, has arrested the 
attention of Americans the moment they enter the 
Room, is that of Seneca, whose strong, marked, and 
clearly defined resemblance to Gen. Taylor is most 
remaxkable. Those who loved Gen. Taylor and revere 
the memory of that truly great and good man recognize 
this striking likeness of him in the head and features 
of one of the Sages of Antiquity with deep emotion. 



Letters from Europe. 535 



XXI. 

NAPLES, Fi:iu;c.u:v21, 1852. 

The King, who resides most of the time at his Palace 
in the Country, has l>een fur a week in the City. This 
augments the Guard abont the Palace. In passing 
yesterday, at the tap of a Drum, I saw several hundred 
Soldiers rush to their Posts within and without the 
Palace Gate. Soon, the Royal Coach appeared, and as 
it passed in, the Troops presenting Arms, instead of the 
Bang, as I expected, my eyes were rewarded with a 
sight of two Royal Babies and their Nurse. But the 
Bong was out riding subsequently with the Queen. 
He is of good height, rather portly, and apparently 
Over forty. He is, I understand, a man of fair talents, 
good temper and kind disposition, preferring ease to 
action. He comes from that branch of the Bourbon 
Family which Boxaparti: stigmatized as " never learn- 
ing or forgetting anything." His Policy is in harmony 
with that of Austria. 

There is a large military force (Neapolitan and Swiss) 
in the City. They look like fine troops. Within a 
few years the Bang has been converting the Lazaroni 
into Soldiers, and though the experiment was regarded 
as of doubtful utility, it turns out that fellows who were 
g I for nothing else, make capital Soldiers. 

Sentinels are posted "as thick as blackberries" 
throughout the < lity, by means of which excellent order 



536 Thuelow Weed's 

is preserved. At night the Sentinels wear a " Spook" 
like appearance, being enveloped in long white sack 
cloaks with a hood. 

The Mediterranean Squadron, which for more than 
thirty years has consisted of several Ships, has been 
reduced down to the Independence, and a month or 
more since she was ordered home ; but in consequence 
of the changed aspect of Public Affairs, at the sugges- 
tion of our Diplomatic Representative, Com. Moegan 
awaits the further orders of the Navy Department. 
With a large Commerce in the numerous Ports of the 
Mediterranean, at a crisis like the present, we ought, 
instead of one Ship, to have three or four cruising in 
this Sea ; that is, if Ships-of-War are essential to the 
protection of the rights and interests of oxu- Countrymen. 

Sailors will be what they have been everywhere and 
through all time. Scarcely any of them come on shore 
with money in their pockets without getting into a 
scrape. They collect the Minstrels, Mountebanks, 
Showmen, &c, around them, giving them more money 
for half an hour's foolery than they gather from others 
in a month. Then they charter Vehicles and drive 
Jehu-like through the City till they get " castaway," 
bringing up finally, after a fight, in a guard-house. 
Some time since half a dozen American tars came to the 
conclusion, over their Cups in a Sailors' Cafe, that it 
was a " bloody shame " to keep several hundred jolly 
fellows whom they had seen through the grates of a 
Prison, thus cribbed, without their " grog." So they 
start off with a determination to open the Prison Doors. 
Approaching the Guard, their leader, in a set speech, 
explained the nature of their enterprise. But as the 



Li: r ri.u's ikom Europe. 537 

Sentinel did not understand English, they " damned 
his eves" and pushed ahead. The Sentinel and a com- 
rade presented their Bayonets, but .lack immediately 

pitched into them, disarming and overthrowing both 
Reinforcements, however, were at hand, and the Sailors, 
after a gallant resistance, were captured and marched 
off to Prison themselves. 

We went yesterday to the Tomb of Virgil, which is 
in a lonely spot on the brow of a mountain overlooking 
the City and Bay. Immediately under this Tomb is the 
mouth of a Grotto, remarkable in form and history, 
extending tlu-ough this mountain. This Grotto or Tun- 
nel is the Road which connects Naples with the 
Ancient Town of Pozzuoli. It forms a beautiful car- 
riageway, from which to the summit of the Arch is a 
distance of from seventy to one hundred feet. When, 
or by whom it was constructed, history telleth not, 
though it is spoken of by Seneca, Pliny, and others of 
then- time. At the Western end of the Grotto, Marcus 
Bruits had a Villa on the small Island of Nesis, whei'e 
there is now a Lazzeretto. 

Near Pozzuoli, at the Ancient Harbor of Cumae, 
St. Paul, after appealing from Agriita to C.i.sar, he 
was sent in "these bonds" from Jerusalem to Rome, 
and after his tempestuous voyage, disembarked. And 
here (Pozzuoli), before commencing his land journey to 
Rome, the Apostle tarried seven days. This, therefore, 
is Apostolic as well as Classic ground. 

We visited the Royal Palace yesterday, also. It is 

of course very spacious and very superbly furnished. 

In the State Apartments are many ran' Paintings by the 

old Blasters, and much costlv furniture. The Apart- 
08 



538 Thurlow Weed's 

merits occupied by the King's Family comprise a very 
inconsiderable part of the Palace. It is only on great 
occasions that the magnificent suite of Rooms we saw 
are lighted up. The King's birthday, which occurred 
recently, was brilliantly celebrated. On this occasion, 
our townsman, Gen. Cooper, in full military costume, 
was presented by Mr. Moeeis. 

Naples is the place for Coral ornaments. From here 
most of the work of this description comes. It consti- 
tutes an important item in the occupation and traffic of 
the City. • Once the deepest colors were most valued ; 
but afterwards those of a lighter hue came in fashion ; 
and none now but the palest are held in esteem. Cor- 
als, therefore, almost colorless, command the highest 
prices. I saw a gentleman yesterday ordering ten Coral 
buttons for a Lady's Vest, which cost eighty dollars, 
while those which, to my unfashionable eye, were more 
desirable, might have been purchased for one-eighth 
part of the money. 

Campo Santo, the Cemetery of Naples, is eligibly 
situated on an eminence about a mile and a half from 
the City. I was surprised to find it even more elabo- 
rate in Chapels and with grounds more highly orna- 
mented than those of Pere la Chaise. Indeed it is the 
most impressive Cemetery I have seen. Wealthy Fam- 
ilies have expensive vaults, over which chapels are 
erected. The various congregations have, also, their 
separate grounds and chapels. The Poor are interred 
in lots set apart for them. At the head of each grave 
is a cross containing a number corresponding with a 
number recorded in the Keeper's books. Interments 
of Soldiers, from Hospitals, Alms Houses, &c, are in 



Letters from Europe. 539 

Catacombs in the centre of the Cemetery. The Ground 
for this Cemetery (the Ancient Campo Santo being 
nearer the City) was consecrated only twelve years 
ago, and yet the number of interments has already 
reached 80,000. 

We passed from the solemnities of Death to the frivoli- 
ties of Life, for on entrance into the City its streets were 
rife with the Buffooneries of the Carnival, this being its 
last day. These exhibitions are really too grotesque 
and ridiculous to describe. I will give a single illus- 
tration. Our carriage stopped as a multitude poured 
out of a narrow street. The Carnival Personam con- 
sisted of half a dozen Lazaroni in coarse masks and 
flashy costume. The principal actor mounted a rostrum 
and proclaimed his ability and readiness to cure all 
maladies. He learned his wonderful medical secrets, 
he said, from the Indians in America. The subordinates 
disappeared among the crowd, but soon one of them 
was seen approaching, bellowing vociferously. This 
Patient had a toothache. The Doctor first used a chisel 
and mallet to loosen the tooth, and then drew out. an 
enormous tusk with large iron pinchers, greatly to the 
edification of the multitude. Then came another whose 
Arm had to be sawed off; and another whose Stomach 
had to be opened, from which a sheep's pluck was taken. 
Other operations, to the increasing admiration of the 
auditors, followed. And finally a Female Patient 
approached, but suspecting that this was one that might 
not exactly accord with our ideas of propriety, we drove 
on before the Lady was declared to be " as comfortable 
as could be expected." This is a fair specimen of Car- 
nival festivities. 



540 Thurlow Weed's 

I saw the other day what struck me as a Medical 
novelty, or, at least, a novel mode of Inoculation for 
Kine Pox. This was the "Pock Cow." She is led 
about the City from House to House, the Doctor 
inquiring at each whether they have any Children for 
Inoculation. The matter, instead of coming, as with 
us, from the Doctor's Saddle-bags, is taken directly 
from the Cow's bag, into which fresh incisions are 
made with the Lancet. 

February 22. 

The name of Washington is known throughout the 
world, and his character is revered by all civilized 
Nations. This, the Anniversary of his Birthday, was 
appropriately honored here. Looking out in the Bay 
this morning, my eyes were greeted with the Stars 
and Stripes streaming from nearly all the Vessels in 
Port. The United States Ship Independence was 
gaily decorated with the Flags of all Nations. The 
American Flag was also displayed by the Neapolitan 
Ships-of-War. 

In the Evening, our Charge d' Affaires, the Hon. E. 
J. Morris, gave a brilliant Birthday Fete. His Man- 
sion was handsomely illuminated. Over its entrance 
the name of Washington was described by variegated 
Lamps. The Americans at Naples (Resident and Vis- 
itors) were invited. The officers of the United States 
Ship Independence, together with several Officers from 
a British Steam Frigate just arrived, were there. The 
Diplomatic Corps were present. Sir William Temple 
(brother of Lord Palmerston), who has represented 
his Grovernment here for twenty years, attended, with 



Letters from Europe. 541 

his Attaches, and manifested the highest interest in the 
character of Washington, and much admiration for 
America. Several Officers of the Swiss Regiments sta- 
tioned lure, and many Neapolitan Ladies and Gentle- 
men, were in attendance. 

A large Snite of Rooms were thrown open. The 
scene was enlivened hy a fine band. At eleven the 
Sapper Room, displaying a profusion of delicacies, was 
thrown open, and at twelve we left a large and cheerful 
party engaged in the enjoyment of conversation and 
dancing. 

I see it stated that the Pope is to send a contribution 
of Marble for the "Washington Monument. The Monu- 
ment Association may look in this direction for another 
contribution, and one that cannot fail to be valued. 
Mr. Morris has asked for, and I believe obtained from 
the King of Naples, permission to take from Her- 
culaneum a block of Lava for this great National 
Memento. It will be sent home in the United States 
Ship Independence. Mr. M. has obtained permission, 
also, to excavate two Tombs at Herculaneum, the con- 
tents of winch, or such as may be suitable, will be sent 
to America. 

After reading the Speech of Senator Stockton on 
the question of Flogging in tin; Navy, I asked Lieu- 
tenant Drayton, the Flag ( Officer of the Independence, 
how this Reform worked. His views on the subject 
are so practical, and so manifestly sound, that I cannot 
forbear repeating them briefly, in the hope that they 
may meet the eyes and claim the attention of some 
Member of Congress, who can be induced to act upon 
them. 



542 Thuelow "Weed's 

Lieut. Drayton says he is quite sure that Flogging, 
as a general punishment, is repugnant to the feelings of 
most Officers of the Navy. He entertains no doubt 
but that the system may be reformed with great use- 
fulness. But he says that the Law abolishing the Cat 
involved the necessity of providing other and better 
modes of punishment. Now, all the power Officers 
possess, is, to confine Sailors for misconduct ; and this, 
especially in bad weather or when hard work is being 
done, is a relief rather than a punishment, so much so, 
indeed, that it is not unusual for bad men to disobey 
orders expressly to shirk duty. Lieut. D. says that 
two-thirds or three-quarters of all the offenses com- 
mitted by Sailors, result from Rum. By abolishing the 
Grog Ration, therefore, occasions for punishment would 
be comparatively rare. Congress should, he says, after 
prohibiting Rum and Flog-ging, establish by Law modes 
of punishment applicable to various offenses, and grad- 
uated, as they are by other laAvs. But the leading 
features in a wise penal Code, in the judgment of Lieut. 
Drayton, should be, first, rewards for good conduct ; 
and second, expulsion of irreclaimably bad men from 
the service. Now, he says, the best Sailor in the Navy, 
even if he be a man fit to command, fares no better 
than the worst one. He gets neither promotion, nor 
privileges, nor thanks for years of faithful and gallant 
services. There should be something to stimulate and 
to reward good men. And there should, also, be a 
regulation by means of which the worst men can be 
expelled from a ship and kept out of the Navy, for the 
conduct and character of a whole Crew is frequently 



Letters from Europe. 543 

influenced and formed by the good or bad examples of 
individual Sailors. 

The condition and welfare of Sailors in the American 
Navy, Lieut. D. says, are less cared for than those of 
any other Nation. There are no Laws or Regulations 
designed or calculated to elevate or improve, to encour- 
age or reward them. Instead of being shipped by Ofli- 
cers of the Government, they are caged in Rummeries 
and entrapped when drunk by " Crimps," who take 
their three months' advance pay, for which the Sailors 
receive bad clothes and worse rum. If "Jack" serves 
faithfully until he is worn out, no refuge or retreat is 
provided for him. In the English and other Navies, 
though Sailors are not as well paid as ours, the}- are 
really better off, because they are in various ways pro- 
tected by philanthropic regulations. 

It is strange that, with a Board of Navy Commis- 
sioners, consisting of expei'ienced Officers, something 
has not been done for the protection of American Sea- 
men. There must be Naval Officers about Washington 
equal to the task of reforming and improving our 
Naval System. Why will not some enlightened Mem- 
ber of Congress examine the English Navy regulations, 
and in consultation with Com. Smith, or some such 
Officer, prepare a Bill which, while it abolishes Rum 
and the Lash, provides such punishments as will restrain 
bad men, and offer such inducements as will encourage 
and reward good Sailor-. 



544 Thurlow Weed's 



XXII. 

BALE, March 5, 1852. 

This is classic ground — ground familiar to the Poets 
and Philosophers, the Sages and Tyrants of Antiquity. 
We have been traversing all day localities which, thou- 
sands of years ago, were traversed by Virgil, Cicero, 
Pliny, Tasso, Julius C^sar, Hannibal, Nero, &c, &c. 
To the Scholar these scenes must possess rare interest, 
for I doubt whether another spot, combining so many 
natural phenomena and classic associations, can be 
found. 

Go with me, in imagination, over these grounds. 
The excursion shall not weary you. We alight first at 
the Grotto del Cane, the gas of which extinguishes the 
life of a dog in two minutes. The Dog kept there for 
this experiment was taken in with instinctive knowledge 
of the ordeal that lie was to go through. In less than 
a minute he was in convulsions. Being immediately 
withdrawn, he lay a short time as if under the influence 
of galvanism, and then attempted to rise, but went 
staggering off. 

This Grotto is situated upon the border of a small 
Lake, on the shore of which is a Race Course. And 
as we arrived, a Hurdle Race was about to come off. 
Hundreds of Carriages and thousands of People had 
come from Naples. Among the Nobility were the 



Letters from Europe. 545 

Prince of Syracuse (brother of the King of Naples), 
and the Duke D'Ai mai.i:. Son of Louis Puillippe. 

Six horses entered, four English and two Neapolitan. 
The Course extends around the Lake for two miles, so 
thai the hordes are all the time in full view. Two 
horses either fell or threw their Riders in leaping the 
second hurdle. Another bolted after running about 
two-thirds round, and three came in handsomely, a 
Neapolitan horse winning. 

Leaving the Race Course we pass two Prisons, one 
for ordinary Convicts and the other for persons guilty 
of Republicanism, and both crowded with inmates. In 
the distance is the Island of Ischia, where Political 
offenders expiate their crimes in ways at which humanity 
shudders. Of the victims confined there and on the 
Island of Capri, Mr. Gladstone has given but a too pain- 
fully true revelation. At Puteoli, the Port at which 
St Paul landed, you stop to view the ruins of the 
Temple of Jupiter Serapis, which was destroyed by 
an Earthquake before the Christian era, remaining 
undiscovered until 1750. Though its splendid Grecian 
Columns have been carried away to adorn Modern 
Palaces, it is still a noble ruin. Here, also, you see the 
Mole from which Caligula stretched his bridge of 
I .oats to the City of Baise. Leaving Puteoli, you pass 
the Villa of Marci a Brutus, now a Lazzeretto. This 
brings you to Monte Nuovo, a high mountain that rose 
out of the Sea in thirty-six hours, in the year 1538. 
Soon after this comes the Villa of Julius Cesar, a 
part of which sunk, and what remains overhangs the 
in this vicinity is the Villa of Cicero, answering, 

09 



546 Thurlow "Weed's 

though in ruins, to the description given of it by Pliny, 
This was Cicero's Academia. In view of this Villa is 
the Lake of Lucrine, over which Birds could not fly. 

You have now reached the Ancient City of Baias, 
destroyed three thousand years ago by an earthquake. 
In its Harbor, near Cape Misenurn, the Elder Pliny lay 
with his Fleet when the Eruption which destroyed 
Pompeii and Herculaneum broke out. Among the 
best preserved ruins of Baise, are the Temples of Venus, 
Diana and Mercury. Proceeding farther you come to 
a Grotto extending several hundred feet into a moun- 
tain, terminating with Springs, the water of which boils 
an egg in two minutes. The guide who went in came 
back with his bucket of water with perspiration run- 
ning in streams from every pore. Persons suffering 
with chronic diseases came for relief to this Grotto from 
Rome before the birth of the Savior. Rising this moun- 
tain you see the River Styx. Here also is the remains 
of an immense reservoir from which fresh water was 
conveyed in a subterranean Aqueduct to the City. 
And we went into the subterranean Dungeons of Nero, 
near which you look out upon the Elysian Fields. 
Returning, the principal objects of interest are the 
Sybil's Grotto and Solfaterra, where Alum, Vitriol, Sal 
Ammoniac, &c, are made from Volcanic substances. 

Now from this brief, crude sketch you can, perhaps, 
form an idea of the intense interest which such an 
excursion awakens. It was from the Harbor of Baiae 
that the officers of the U. S. Ship Independence viewed 
the eruption of Vesuvius in 1850. 



Letters from Europe. 5 1 7 

Naples, March C. 
We took advantage of a calm day to visit the Inde- 
pendence, through which we were kiiull y shown by Lieut 
Bradford and Midshipman Bestee. .She is a noble 
specimen of Naval Architecture, and would, 1 doubt 
not, if an emergency required it, maintain the reputa- 
tion our navy acquired in 1812, '13 and '14. Her 
crew, including officers, number nearly GOO, two of 
whom (Com. Morgan and the Chief Gunner), were on 
board the U. S. Frigate Constitution when she captured 
the British Frigates Guerriere and JaVA. The old 
Gunner has and desires no other home or element than 
his Ship and the Ocean. He has not been on shore for 
more than a year, though he might go, if he chose, 
every day. Dr. Wheelon, the Surgeon of the Inde- 
pendence, was very kindly attentive to one of our party 
who required medical aid. Lieut. Dkayton, whom we 
meet often, I like much. And with Capt. Jamison, 
Lieut. Mina and Purser Mubphy, whom we know 
slightly, I am also pleased. Gnu. Morgan, a veteran 
who has seen much service, has, in his manner and con- 
versation, all the heartiness of the Sailor blended with 
the polish of the gentleman. In conversation to-day 
he mentioned an incident so complimentary to an old 
friend, that I must repent it. 1 had been looking at a 
Portrait of him painted by Ai. i:.\AMti:i;, of Boston. "I 
had one," said the Commodore, "painted by Harding, 
which got broken and soiled. While here it occured to 
me that I might get an Italian Ani-i to copy ELabding's 

Picture, and with this view I asked PER8IC0 (who was 
employed by our ( lovennncnl to ornament the ( 'apitol) 
to send me the best Portrait Painter in Naples. He 



548 Thuelow "Weed's 

came with an Artist under the patronage of the Em- 
peror of Russia, who had been a long time in Florence, 
Rome and Naples, and is considered the best Portrait 
Painter in Italy. The Artist examined the Picture a long 
time very attentively, inquiring where and by whom it 
was painted. I asked him to make a good copy, for 
which I would pay him his own price. He took it to 
his Studio, but came back with it the next day, declin- 
ing the commission, with the remark that it was a better 
Portrait than he or any Artist in Naples could paint." 

This was certainly a very handsome compliment to 
Haeding. I need not say that the Commodore now 
sets a higher value upon his somewhat neglected Por- 
trait. 

I have said nothing of the Prisons of Naples, because 
thej* are not yet full, and People find themselves inside 
of them for sinning far less than I should if I allow 
myself to think of the thousands of victims of Tyranny 
who are wasting away their lives in Dungeons. Mr. 
Gladstone's account of the horrors of Neapolitan Pris- 
ons is no exaggeration. Thousands are now incarcer- 
ated for being moved by the impulse of 1850. The 
suspicion of entertaining liberal opinions marks a man 
for oppression, and the slightest expression of a Repub- 
lican sentiment is fatal to his Liberty. The Islands 
of Ischia and Capri, could the secrets of their Prison 
Houses be given up, would reveal cruelties worthy of 
a much darker age. 



Letters from Europe. 549 



XXIII. 

NAPLES, March 12, 1852. 

Vesuvius, you know, is the most prominent feature of 
the varied views that Naples presents. We had been 
looking at its smoking crater, high above the clouds, 
anxiously for three weeks, intending to take advantage 
of the most favorable occasion to ascend. To many 
this is an impossibility; to others, it is difficult, and 
even perilous; while to the youthful and athletic it is 
only an exciting enterprise. All, however, who ascend, 
regard it as an achievement of which they are at 
liberty to boast. It would have grieved me to have 
left Naples without ascending Vesuvius, and I rejoice 
to have seen this great wonder of the world ; but now 
that it has been achieved, no moderate sum of money 
would tempt me, in company with Ladies for whose 
safety I am responsible, again to encounter its perils. 
Accidents rarely occur, and this encourages so many 
to venture; but there is manifest and imminent danger, 
especially to such as trust themselves to carriers, as 
well as to those in delicate health who climb up. Per- 
haps a brief account of the process will interest you. 
We left Naples in a carriage at 8.\ a. m., which drove 
to a Town Imilt upon the Lava which overwhelmed 
Eerculaneum. Bere we mounted I'miics. A ride of 
two hours brought us through a winding, steep but 
plea-ant r«>ad to the hermitage, four miles from Portici, 



550 Thurlow Weed's 

where we stopped to refresh. From thence to the foot 
of the Cone is a mile and a half, by difficult and 
narrow passes through and over Lava. But the Ponies 
are way-wise and sure-footed. To H., who was now 
in the saddle for the second time in her life, this seemed 
a fearful undertaking, but she accomplished it gallantly. 
The Ladies, when we started, only intended to go to 
the foot of the Cone, but when there the temptations 
to ascend were irresistible. They saw others going up 
and returning (for a large number had been waiting, 
like ourselves, for a fine day), and though it made the 
head swim to look at persons up in the clouds clinging 
to an almost perpendicular mountain, they resolved to 
follow, and immediately seated themselves in Chairs 
lashed to poles. Four men raised these poles to their 
shoulders and commenced the ascent. Having, as you 
know, one disabled walking-beam, I also seated myself 
in a Chair. The distance up is about a mile, and steep 
as it is you mount directly instead of winding your 
way. The first thirty or forty rods is through volcanic 
cinders, and easy enough. You then reach the broken, 
sharp scoria, much of which furnishes but an uncertain 
foothold. And here I discovered an unexpected diffi- 
culty. The Carriers, having been up with a party that 
preceded us, were so jaded and exhausted that I saw 
how impossible it was to reach the summit in that way. 
I therefore alighted, and taking an arm of two of them, 
trudged upward, at the hazard of doing myself irrepar- 
able injury. In the meantime the Ladies, who were a 
quarter of a mile in advance, were also in the hands 
of weary, panting Carriers, whose progress was slow 
and difficult. Frequently, to prevent themselves from 



Lettebs from Europe. 551 

fulling' backwards with their burthens, the Carriers 
would drop upon their knees and hold on to the broken 
scoria until they gathered breath and strength to strug- 
gle on. 1 was infinitely relieved, therefore, when the 
Ladies disappeared, for then I knew that they were 
safely up. The last quarter of a mile was rendered 
easier by the snow into which steps were made. The 
ascent is usually accomplished in three-quarters of an 
hour, but in consequence of the exhaustion of our 
Carriers, we were an hour and a quarter going up. 

But once up, we breathed freely, and the View was 
so Bublimely interesting that we forgot our toils and 
perils. There was a mild atmosphere and a bright 
sun. We first glanced over the broad bay, and 
broader campagna, which spread out under our feet. 
Large Towns, in the distance, looked like a single 
Mansion, or, at most, a Mansion around which out- 
houses clustered. The City of Naples, with its 400,000 
inhabitants, seemed but a small, compact Village, and 
the United States Ship Independence, moored in the 
Bay, was no larger, apparently, than a Pilot Boat. 
More immediately below us are the Cities and Towns 
buried by Lava by the different Eruptions, over which 
modern towns (excepting Pompeii) have been built, in 
anticipation, it would seem, at some future day, of a 
similar fate. 

Having surveyed, with our eyes, the sm-rounding 
scenery, we followed the guide to the Crater, to obtain 
a good look into which we had to walk for several rods 
on its rim, with a yawning gulf on one side and a 
frightful precipice on the other. 

Vesuvius is now in repose. It has, however, two 



552 Thurlow Weed's 

lungs, or breathing places, from which columns of 
smoke are for ever and ever ascending. This smoke 
is so strongly impregnated with sulphur as to strangle 
those who inhale it. The Lava on the sides of the 
Crater is of the color of brimstone. An Egg placed 
in crevices near the top will roast in a few minutes. 
Metallic substances change color by a moment's expo- 
sure to this atmosphere. Indeed, this change occurs 
without exposure, for, on our return, Mrs. H. found that 
her Purse (a highly polished steel one), which had not 
been out of her Pocket, was blackened and spoiled. 
. Some adventurous gentlemen attempted to descend a 
few rods into the Crater, but were soon driven back by 
the smoke, the density of which shut off the view into 
the pot where molten lava is boiling. 

" All that goes up must come down." So of Vesu- 
vius. To those who are alert and hale, the descent 
from this dizzy height is a frolicsome feat. Over the 
first quarter of a mile, through the snow, the young 
roll and turn summersets. But for Ladies, and inva- 
lids especially, the descent has its perils, for it requires 
rigid bracing and strong muscular effort to preserve an 
erect position. You do not return, however, over the 
sharp, broken scoria, but by another route, through 
volcanic cinders, into which you sink almost knee- 
deep. The Ladies, with a Carrier on either side, on 
whose arms they rested, ran rather than walked down. 
And when we reached the bottom in safety, I expe- 
rienced a grateful sense of relief from apprehension 
and solicitude. 

Returning we visited Hekculaneum, a buried city on 
and over which Resina stands. Here, therefore, com- 



Letters from Europe. 558 

paratively little has been done in the way of excava- 
tion, because the Ancient can be recovered only at the 
expense tit' the Modern. Enough lias been done how- 
ever, to fill the Museums of Naples and Rome with 
numerous wonders of Art. Herculaneum was de- 
stroyed by the same eruption which overwhelmed 
Pompeii, but was not discovered until the commence- 
ment of the 18th Century, and then accidentally by 
the sinking of a well. We descended to the Amphi- 
theatre from which so many gems of Antiquity have 
been recovered. Its magnitude and magnificence are 
alike wonderful. While groping by torch-light through 
galleries sixty feet below the surface of the present 
town, a train of cars, the track for which is directly 
over this Theatre, rushed by with a noise like distant 
thunder. But I will not dwell upon details which are 
familiar to most people. 

It is passing strange that places like Herculaneum 
and PoMPETJ should have been for so many Centuries 
lost, not only in fact, but to the knowledge of the world. 
It is supposed that most of their inhabitants escaped. 
The eruption which buried these cities was not only 
seen by thousands, but was made a part of the history 
of the times in those two most graphic Letters written" 
to Tacitus by the younger Pliny, who was an enlight- 
ened and calm witness to the sublime catastrophe. 

70 



554 Thuklow Weed's 



XXIV. 

ROME, March 23, 1852. 

We have been a week in the " Eternal City," though at 
first, it was not that "Eternal City" of whose "rise, 
progress and fall " we read ; nor was it the Rome of my 
imagination. Rome, pe?- se, is apparently less ancient in 
its aspects than many cities of the Continent ; less so, 
even than York, Durham, Salisbury, Chester, &c, in 
England. Throughout Rome, as it stands, to the eye 
of a stranger, the modern predominates over the ancient. 
At first you see everybody and everything looking and 
acting just as everything and everybody looks and acts 
elsewhere. Indeed, some of its Antiquities lack the 
features that usually mark the progress of time. St. 
Peter's, though erected before America was discovered, 
looks brighter than St. Paul's Church, in Broadway. 
In the first view of Rome, therefore, there is disappoint- 
ment. Dickens, who experienced it, says, after the first 
view of the City, that " it was not the Rome he 
expected to find, degraded and fallen, and lying asleep 
in the Sun among a heap of ruins ; and I confess to 
have gone to bed that night with a very considerably 
quenched enthusiasm." 

But these are first impressions only. They soon fade 
away ; and the Rome that was as soon comes up in its 
greatness and grandeur to fill and impress both the eye 
and the mind. You have only to ascend the Pincian, 



Letters from Eueope. ■ 555 

the Capitoline or 'the Quirinal Hills, and look off upon 
the Coliseum, the Palace of the Cksaks, the Castle of 
St. Axgelo, tlir Baths of Caracalla, the Pantheon, the 
Forum, &c., to catch something of the spirit of Rome 
in her days of triumph and glory. Here you breathe a 
really ancient Roman atmosphere, and from these land- 
marks you survey the Theatre in which the great 
Dramas of Antiquity were enacted. 

And having thus, from these vantage grounds, 
obtained a general knowledge of localities, losing com- 
mon-place things of the present, in the magnilicent out- 
lines of the past, you go about seeking out Rome's other 
self among its excavated Temples, Monuments, Col- 
umns, Memorials, &c. By degrees, what were at first 
distant and isolated ruins, combine and associate them- 
selves in your mind as a compact whole, for which, in 
its Architectural grandeur, the world with its accumu- 
lating population and wealth, has furnished no par- 
allel. In one quarter alone, extending from the foot 
of the Capitoline Hill to the Arch of Titus, there is 
enough of recovered Architectural magnificence to fill 
the mind and the imagination with amazement. If the 
Coliseum were the only surviving monument of Rome's 
former greatness, she would command the wonder and 
admiration of the modern world. It is difficult to con- 
vey an idea of the magnitude of this structure. Though 
enough of its crumbling materials have been carried 
away to erect numerous Mansions and Palaces, enough 
remains to build a considerable town with. Of the 
magnitude of St. Peter's it is still more difficult to con- 
vey or suggest an idea, for its proportions are so 
perfect — the parts all harmonize so heautii'ullv — that 



556 Thurlow "Weed's 

as a whole it loses its appearance of greatness. It is 
only by viewing it in detail that yon can comprehend 
or realize its vastness. St. Peter's and the Vatican are 
said to cover as much ground as Turin, a City of 
120,000 inhabitants. This is probably an exaggeration, 
but it is certain that a walk around them would insure 
any one a sharp appetite for breakfast. The Dome of 
St. Peter's does not look much larger than that on our 
City Hall, and yet the City Hall might stand in that 
Dome. The magnificent Granite and Marble Columns 
in and about St. Peter's, if placed at the distances 
which Magnetic Telegraph Posts occupy, would extend 
from Albany to Troy. There is stone enough in St. 
Peter's to build up both sides of State street, from the 
Exchange to the Park, with the Exchange and Capitol 
included. 

The Hotels of Rome are in a cluster around the 
Piazza di Spagna. Having established yourself in one 
of these, the business of sight-seeing commences imme- 
diately. The City has been, all winter, and is now, 
full of strangers, a large sprinkling of whom are from 
America. We found Gen. J. T. Cooper and Mr. W. 
H. De Witt, with their Families. These, with our 
Party, made quite an Albany Representation. From 
New York and Boston there are at least a dozen 
Families. 

Our first acquaintance was with our Bankers, Messrs. 
Maguary, Packenham & Hooker. In the junior part- 
ner of this House, Mr. Hooker, we found a most 
agreeable American, who studies to render Rome pleas- 
ant to his. countrymen. He is connected with a very 
wealthy House, which does a safe and profitable 



Letters from Europe. 557 

business. Mr. HoOKEB is from Chautauque county. 
He goes home in June to visit his brother in Westfield; 
and he is quite sure of a warm welcome t "n >m numer- 
ous friends to whom he lni^ been so attentive here. 
Two Bostonians (Messrs. Hates and Sturues) are the 
active Partners in the great Banking Eouse of Basing, 
Brothers, London; and a New Yorker (Mr. Hooker) 
is the principal in another great English Banking 
House in Koine. These incidents are alike gratifying 
and creditable to those gentlemen and to American 
intelligence, enterprise and integrity. 

Our next acquaintance was with the Hon. Mr. Cass, 
the Representative of our Government at the Papal 
Court, who has not only extended to us every facility 
in obtaining permission to visit Villas and Palaces, 
but has accompanied us to several, and been kindly 
attentive in all respects. The demand upon him for 
such civilities is constant, for all who come here need 
and seek the aid of our Minister, and all are cheerfully 
served. He has already obtained seats for nearly an 
hundred Americans, in St. Peter's, to the ceremonies of 
the Holy Week. 

On Sunday, we attended Divine Sendee at the resi- 
dence of Mr. Cass, where apartments have been fitted 
up for "Stated Preaching," and where the Rev. Mr. 
Hastings, a man of decided ability, officiates. 

We have visited the Studios of Fbeemah and Terry, 
American Painters who have been long enough in 
Rome to establish a high Italian reputation. With Mr. 
Freeman's success I am much gratified, for he is, pro- 
fessionally and personally, a man of decided worth. 
As an Artist, he aimed high, but by long and devoted 



558 Thurlow Weed's 

study and labor he lias attained his mark. He goes 
home in May, taking with him two large Pictures (both 
of which are sold), which have been greatly admired 
here, and will assuredly extend and perpetuate his 
fame. Mr. Terry has been eminently successful here. 
Like Freeman, he only paints original Pictures, For 
his best Picture (Jacob's Dream) he has orders that 
will require several years to execute. Mr. Chapman, 
another American Painter, is devoting himself success- 
fully to his Art. His Studio is adorned with several 
beautiful heads, either finished or in progress. He is 
also making a copy of Murillo's "Mother and Child." 

We went, of course, to the Studio of the Sculptor 
Crawford, whose colossal Statues of Patrick Henry 
and Thomas Jefferson, ordered by the Legislature of 
Virginia to grace a Monument at Richmond, are excit- 
ing universal admiration. They are indeed noble con- 
ceptions and noble creations, worthy in all respects of 
the illustrious Statesmen whose forms and fame they 
are destined to perpetuate. These figures, together 
with an Equestrian Statue of Washington, are to be 
cast in Bronze at Munich. 

Mr. Story, of Boston, Son of the late eminent Justice 
Story, is here working upon a Model for a Statue of 
his Father. 

Mr. Mosher, of New York, a Sculptor of decided 
genius, is rising, like most of the American Artists here, 
to usefulness and fame. Mr. Wood, another Sculptor, 
has just finished an excellent marble Bust of our towns- 
man, Mr. De Witt, who will avail himself of his visit 
to Europe to gather up a good many gems. 



Letters from Europe. 559 

I am gratified to see that our Artists here are profit- 
ing handsomely by the taste and liberality of wealthy 
Americans who have been in Italy during the presenl 
year. It is quite time that more should be done, in 
this way, to embellish both our public edifices and 
private mansions. Our country is rich enough now 
to indulge in this commendable luxury. And a visit 
to Italy cannot fail to begot and cultivate a taste for 
Art 

The English and American Families here have 
beguiled the Winter with private Theatricals, under 
the especial auspices of Mr. and Mrs. Black, at whose 
mansion we saw the "Merchant of Venice" played 
with much Dramatic spirit and effect the other evening. 
Among the Dramatis Persoime were Mr. and Mrs. 
Story, Mr. J. G. Lowell, and Mr. and Mrs. < 'kauford, 
and a Mr. HemanS, son of the gifted Authoress. 

I have seen the works of Gmsox, the best English 
Sculptor, and those of Powers and Crawford, the 
best American workers in marble. Than these tlu-ee 
Artists, tin-re are none in Italy of higher, if of equal 
merit. And yet, sublime and beautiful as are the 
creations of these men, there is an American, now com- 
paratively unknown, who is destined to equal, if not 
snr])a<s, them all. This is our townsman, Palmes, who 
needs only a course of study and practice here, with 
the works of the great masters before him. to take rank 
among the most distinguished Sculptors of the age. 



560 Thurlow Weed's 



XXV. 

ROME, April 7, 1852. 

The solemnities of Holy Week draw Visitors to Rome 
from all parts of the world. These solemnities com- 
menced with Palm Sunday. We went early to St. 
Peter's, where seats were prepared for several hundred 
privileged Ladies, and where several thousand gentle- 
men were permitted to stand. 

The Pope was borne in on the shoulders of twelve 
Disciples, preceded by a Procession of Cardinals, Bish- 
ops, Priests, &c, &c. After appropriate services, which 
included the elevation of the Host, Palm leaves were 
blessed and delivered to the dignitaries of the Church. 
The services occupied three hours, and were highly 
impressive. 

In the afternoon of Sunday I was presented by Mr. 
Cass to His Holiness. We went, by appointment, at 
4 o'clock. Mrs. Middleton, of South Carolina, Mrs. 
Rutherford, of New Jersey, and Gen. Stuart, of 
Baltimore, were presented at the same time. Mrs. 
Middleton is the daughter of a Roman Officer who 
died recently, and who was for a long time Governor 
of the Castle of St. Angelo. She had a Petition to 
present, asking for the continuation of a Pension to her 
Mother. This led to a conversation which displayed 
the Pope in all his benevolence of heart. I was grati- 
fied with the opportunity thus offered to see his fine, 



Letters from Europe. 561 

expressive countenance lighted up, and to hear him 
speaking the language of kindness and affection which 
have characterized his whole life. 

Mr. Cass told me that Mrs. Reed, of Baltimore, whom 
he presented two or three weeks ago, informed the Pope 
that she took a warm interest in a Church nearly fin- 
ished, in her native City, and asked of Ilis Holiness a 
Picture. This request was readily granted, and a val- 
uable Painting goes to Baltimore. 

Thursday, April 8. 

We were early at St. Peter's this morning. The ser- 
vices of the day commenced in the Sistine Chapel, 
belonging to the Vatican and adjoining St. Peter's. 
Long before 9 o'clock, several hundred Ladies, all 
dressed in Black, with black Veils thrown over their 
otherwise uncovered heads, were seated in the Chapel. 
Leaving the Ladies here, I returned to the Bridge over 
the Tiber, at the Castle of St. Angelo, to see the World 
of Rome wend its way to St. Peter's. It was really a 
gorgeous scene. A long line of gay Carriages, broken 
occasionally by detachments of Troops going in the 
same direction, along with a dense mass of Pedestrians, 
kept me interested for half an hour. During this time 
I counted the richly ornamented Carnages of forty 
Cardinals, all drawn by beautiful black horses, each 
with three outriders, in splendid liver}'. 

After celebrating High Mass in the Chapel, the Pope 

repairs to the Balcony of St. Peter's, where he gives 

his Benediction to the assembled multitude. This was 

a truly imposing ceremony. The immense area in 

front of St Peter's was thronged. A solemn stilhu as 
71 



562 Thurlow Weed's 

pervaded the multitude. The Pope rose, and, in an 
audible voice, pronounced his Benediction to many 
thousand prostrate believers. 

This over, there was a simultaneous rash for the door 
of St. Peter's, through which three solid columns of 
human beings were passing for fifteen or twenty min- 
utes; and though many thousands entered, St. Peter's 
was far from being full. 

Here the ceremony was deeply interesting, for here 
the Pope, in imitation of his Divine Master, washed the 
feet of his Disciples. These Disciples were twelve 
Missionary Priests who had been abroad teaching the 
Scriptures. They were robed in white, and seated at 
the right of the Altar, upon an elevated bench. Hav- 
ing tied on a white Apron, the Pope proceeded to the 
discharge of this duty, accompanied by Cardinals and 
Priests, with water and napkins. The Pope knelt in 
front of each Disciple, who placed their feet (one foot) in 
a silver ewer, over which water was poured by an attend- 
ant. The Pope then wiped and kissed the foot of each in 
succession, the last of which was that of a Colored Man. 
Each Disciple kissed the Pope's hand as he was rising. 
They were all deeply affected, as indeed were most of 
the auditors, for there was such a touching humility in 
the manner of the Pope, that the lesson this ceremony 
teaches could not fail to impress itself iipon Christian 
hearts. 

Long before this ceremony was over the crowd began 
to move back to the Vatican, where the " Last Supper " 
was spread, and where the Pope again, in imitation of 
his Divine Master, performs the humble office of ser- 
vitor. The rash was tremendous. Neither age nor sex 



Letters from Europe. 563 

were regarded. Indeed those who got into the current 
■were swept along irresistibly, in imminent danger of 
being crushed or suffocated. Having been for more 
than four hours on our feet in the crowd, we dropped 
out and came to our Hotel for refreshments, intending 
to return to St. Peter's at 6 o'clock for the " Miserere," 
which is sung both there and in the Sistine Chapel, with 
the finest eft'ect in the latter place, but the crowd will 
be so great that we shall content ourselves with the 
Choir of St. Peter's. 

Eight o"clock, p. m. 

Immediately after Dinner we drove again to St. Peter's 
to hear the " Miserere." On the way we met several 
Processions of Priests, Monks and Pilgrims, carrying a 
veiled Image of the Savior. The Monks were closely 
masked. The Pilgrims looked weary and famished. In 
each Procession was a Choir whose chaunt was very 
touching. 

Thousands had preceded us at St. Peter's, but we 
made our way through the masses to the gate of the 
Chapel in which the Miserere was to be performed, and 
there we stood wedged in by a compact army for three- 
quarters of an hour. But we could not catch the faint- 
est notes of this highly effective Sacred Music, for 
though all endeavored to be silent, there was more or 
less noise. 

This over, we repaired to the Pauline Chapel of the 
Vatican, which was brilliantly lighted, and where the 
Pope was engaged in appropriate services over the relics 
of the Holy Sepulchre, which arc deposited here. And 
here we passed through another crushing ordeal, for 
though we left many thousands of People in St. Peter's, 



564 Thurlow Weed's 

we found other thousands in the Vatican. The trood 
Pope looked weary enough, but the duties of the day 
were not yet over, for he left this Chapel to attend to 
the cleansing of the Altar in St. Peter's. This, how- 
ever, closed our day — a day replete with solemn 
interest. The ceremonies we witnessed were well cal- 
culated to produce powerful emotions in the heart, 
and to exert a salutary influence upon the conduct of 
those who believe that the Faith of the Apostles has been 
preserved and transmitted by this Church; that Pius 
IX is the successor of St. Peter ; and that the Religion 
of our Savior is taught by his Priesthood — a Priest- 
hood that has so far vindicated Revelation as to have 
carried the Cross and taught the Scriptures everywhere 
and to all People. 

Friday. 

There are Religious Ceremonies during most of the 
time of Holy Week in nearly all of the Three Hun- 
dred and Sixty-Five Churches of Rome. We have 
just returned from St. Peter's, where the Pope came 
with a Procession of Cardinals to the adoration of 
Holy Relics. Returning we stopped at two Churches 
in which the Miserere was being sung, and where there 
was washing of the feet of Pilgrims. 

During the day we visited the Church of Scala 
Santa, where Penitents and Pilgrims ascend a long 
flight of steps on their knees. These steps are sup- 
posed to be the same that the Savior ascended when he 
was taken by Pilate to the Judgment Hall. 

Sunday, April 11. 

Rome rejoices to-day in a risen Savior. The 
Church, having passed her season of Fasts, and laid 



Letters prom Eueope. 565 

aside her Sallies, assumes her gayesi Vestments. All 
is life and animation. Numerous Religious Processions 
ami Ceremonies took place at break of day. We 
repaired to St. Peter's at 8 o'clock, where a great multi- 
tude had already assembled. Soon after 9 o'clock the 
Pope's Procession, preceded by the Pope's Guard, 
entered Sr. Peter's. It was far more imposing than 
those which preceded it. There was a larger number 
of Embassadors, Noblemen, Military Officers, Bishops, 
Archbishops, Cardinals and other Dignitaries, and they 
were all more richly decorated. The services which 
followed, occupying more than two hours, "were deeply 
impressive. These over, everybody rushed to the 
great Square in front of St. Peter's to receive, from 
its Balcony, the Pope's Benediction. For half an hour 
St. Peter's discharged, through its four side doors, a 
dense mass of human beings, numbering, I judge, from 
thirty to forty thousand. These, added to more than 
as many more previously in front of the Church, along 
with five or six thousand Troops, swelled the aggregate 
to nearly an HUNDRED THOUSAND.! There all stood 
under a bright sun and cloudless atmosphere, with eyes 
directed to the balcony until His Holiness appeared. 
Then all was hushed to breathless silence, and all knelt; 
and the scene, at this moment, was more solemn and 
sublime than can be described. The Blessing over, the 
various Bands commenced playing, and the various 
Regiments moved off". All was now full of life and spirit. 
Carriages rattled off, but this was no easv task. Ours, 
though Dragoons were busy in preventing confusion 
and opening avenues, was over an hour in getting out 
of the Square. The streets, on our way to our Hotel, 



566 Thurlow Weed's 

were lined, like Broadway on the 4th of July, with 
People decked in their gayest attire. Thus closes the 
morning of Easter Sunday. We go in the evening to 
see St. Peter's Illuminated. 

• 9 o'clock, p. m. 

We have seen St. Peter's Illuminated! It was a 
sight that richly compensates for a long journey to 
Rome. The effect is truly magnificent — much more so 
than can be imagined from all the descriptions or 
views we had seen. In the comparison, all that I had 
ever witnessed in the way of Illuminations was tame 
and common-place. 

We drove to the Church at 7 o'clock. The lighting 
of nine thousand lamps took ten minutes. These 
illuminated St. Peter's from its base to the brass at the 
top of the Dome, together with the Corridors on either 
side of the Square. This showed the Church to great 
advantage. But brilliant as this was, that which 
succeeded was far more so. At 8 o'clock precisely, 
and as the great Bell of St. Peter's told the hour, 
instantaneously the " Golden Illumination" occurred. 
Thousands of additional and even more radiant lights 
appeared as by magic. And now the scene was one 
of gorgeous beauty. This mighty Cathedral was in 
a blaze of glorious light. Several Bands were all the 
while discoursing soft, mellow music around the Square 
in which were from fifty to seventy-five thousand 
spectators. Having feasted our eyes on this beautiful 
scene we drove to the Pincian Hill for the purpose 
obtaining another and more distant view. This, too, 
was beautifully grand. And having devoted two hours 



Letters from Europe. 567 

to the Illumination we returned deeply impressed with 
recollections of a sjiectacle of unsurpassed magnifi- 
cence. 

Many thousand persons are employed in this Illumi- 
nation, many of whom are exposed to imminent 
dangers. Those who ascend to the Ball and Cross at 
the top of the Dome receive the Sacrament and take 
leave of their friends. 

There was an unpleasant occurrence in front of St. 
Peter's yesterday. When the Pope was about to pro- 
nounce the Benediction, a French Officer ordered Mr. 
Jones, of New York, to take off his hat. Mr. J. refused, 
and the Officer knocked it off, for which he struck the 
Officer with his Cane. The Officer struck back with 
his Sword, cutting Mr. J. slightly in the hand, who 
i-etumed another blow with his Cane. By this time he 
waa taken in charge by Troops and carried to Prison. 
Information was taken to Mr. Cass, our Minister, who 
immediately went to the authorities, and after two or 
three hours' delay procured his release. 



568 Thurlow Weed's 



XXVI. 

IN THE APPENINE MOUNTAINS, April 20, 1852. 

We are weather-bound high up in the Appenine Moun- 
tains, over which we are passing towards Bologna. The 
morning was cold, but pleasant, and for several hours 
we passed through valleys rejoicing in fruits and flow 
ers, with the mountains in sight covered with snow. 
As we began to ascend, a storm commenced, which 
increased in severity for several hours, until the road 
became so heavy from snow and ice as to seriously 
impede our progress, the wind all the while blowing a 
hurricane in our face. At four o'clock our Postillion 
thought it prudent to stop short of the regular Posting 
House, fortunately, however, at an Inn in which we are 
comfortably housed, where we find others in the same 
fix. This is our first experience with Mountains whose 
summits are ever enveloped with snows. 

We left Rome a week ago, having passed an entire 
month in the " Eternal City," more interested in its 
wonders the day we left than the day we entered it. 
Those who read my hurried Letters (if there be such) 
escaped, narrowly, a heavy infliction, when I committed 
to the flames the gossip I was strongly tempted to send 
home. I was in great danger of thinking that what I 
saw with absorbing interest might be made interesting 
to others ; but when I remembered how often and how 
well all things have been written, I concluded that the 
columns of the Journal could be occupied to better 
advantage. Rome, however, though I did not write of 



Letters from Europe. 569 

her, follows me, da)- and night, with its precious mem- 
ories. Oh, what bright visions of her faded glories 
come teeming back ! One could live, I am sure, a long 
life of happiness upon the mental treasures garnered 
up in a month at Rome. In her Ruins, in her Villas 
and in her Galleries, emotions are excited that will make 
the heart bound as long as its pulsations last. You 
bring away from Home impressions that will endure 
through life. In the recollections of Rome there is a 
fund of enjoyment worth far more than the money it 
costs. To say nothing of many other great Pictures, I 
would not, for many golden dollars, have foregone the 
exquisite pleasure of seeing, again and again, Guido's 
Cenci, a Picture of such surpassing excellence that the 
whole world is paying it the homage of admiration. 
That Picture, with the Faxarixa of Raphael, in the 
Palace of the Barberina Family, if money could pur- 
chase them, would command almost any sum demanded. 
I was, before going to Rome, under the impression 
that the greatest number of Valuable Pictures were in 
the Vatican. This is erroneous. The Vast Galleries of 
the Vatican are the depositories of recovered Antiquities. 
You walk for hours in review before the Statuary and 
Heads of Ancient Emperors, Consuls, Philosophers, Ora- 
tors, Poets, Heroes, Popes, Cardinals, Sec. You see 
Colossal Vases, precious Stones and the choicest Gems. 
And you see a few truly great Pictures, among which is 
Raphael's Crucifixion. But the varied treasures of Art, 
beautiful creations of all the illustrious 1'ainters, are 
found in the Galleries of the Houchkza, Uakiskkim. iJos- 
i ioi.io/.i, ami other noble Families. There are also fine 
Pictures at the Capital. 



570 Thuelow Weed's 

We left Rome in a blaze of glory. This was a glory- 
created by a magnificent display of Fire-works, which 
takes place, under the auspices of the Government, the 
night after Easter Sunday. All Rome (with many 
thousand strangers) is attracted by this annual Exhibi- 
tion, surpassing, it is said, all displays of the kind that 
the World has ever witnessed. The Pincian Hill is the 
scene of display. The spectators are densely packed 
into the Square of the People. The Exhibition com- 
mences at 9 and closes at 10 o'clock. These Fire-works, 
it is said, were designed by Michael Angelo, and 
remain, to this day, unequaled. 

I have heard since we left Rome, that Mr. Cass, our 
Representative there, was to be a party to a Duel with 
a French Officer, on account of the prompt manner of 
his demand for the release of an American who had 
some difficulty in front of St. Peter's on Palm Sunday. 
Mr. Cass told us on Sunday Evening that he had 
spoken freely of the conduct of the French Officer, but 
I hope that no such consequence may have been the 
result. 

Bologna, April 22. 

The Snow storm that caught us crossing the Appen- 
ines was a severe one. Our progress for ten or fifteen 
miles this morning was at a snail's pace, Oxen having 
been obtained to assist the Horses in dragging the Car- 
riage. But these bald, rugged succession of Mountains 
were all finally overcome, and, as we began to descend, 
the Snow grew "beautifully less" until, about two o'clock, 
we reached a delightfully verdant valley, which, by 
degrees, spread out into one of the richest landscapes 
my eye ever rested upon. In this Valley Bologna is 



Letters from Europe. 571 

situated. The surrounding Country is entirely unlike 
Italy in all its aspects. Indeed, except in absence of 
manufactories, this Valley resembles that which is fer- 
tilized by the Connecticut River. 

The approach to Bologna was so attractive, together 
with the cheerful look of the Town (with 80,000 inhab- 
itants) that we decided to tarry here a day. All the 
indications of prosperity around Bologna, manifest 
themselves in the active, thrifty appearance of the Town, 
which, though one of the oldest in Italy, looks as bright 
as a new made City. And it is tilled with well dressed 
People, most of wdiom, as they walk the streets, take 
Snuff immoderately. There are, instead of paved side- 
walks, Colonnades extending all along all the streets, so 
that you may walk constantly through a beautiful 
Arcade. The water from the roofs of buildings is con- 
ducted by spouts into the centre of the streets, so that 
when it rains, or when, as to-day, snow is melting, per- 
Bons rifling in open Carriages are subjected to involun- 
tary shower baths. 

Most Travelers rush through Bologna, as we intended, 
thinking, I suppose, that its Sausages are its principal 
attraction. But this is a great mistake, for though just 
from Rome and Florence, we are charmed with one day 
in ISologna. Its Gallery of Art is enriched with glo- 
rious memorials of Gnoo's genius. Here this great 
Master was born anil lived and died, and here are his 
magnificent Pictures. Either one of the eleven that, 

adorn this Gallery would lie an invaluable treasure. 
Here, t->". is tin- St Cecilia of RAPHAEL, and tin- .Mar- 
tyrdom of St.Agnes.by Domimi iii\ ( ). along with tine pic- 
tures by GuERCBXNI and PeriGHENO, RAPHAEL'S Master. 



572 Thurlow Weed's 

Bologna boasts of its hundred Churches, containing 
many admirable Paintings. In its Cathedral, the inte- 
rior of which resembles that Building at Albany, is the 
Tomb of "Eliza," the Sister of Bonaparte. 

Bologna boasts, also, of one of the oldest and most 
celebrated Universities in the world, in which the prin- 
ciples of Jurisprudence are taught by the most emi- 
nent Professors. In this University were learned female 
Professors. The Library of the University contains 
140,000 volumes and 9,000 manuscripts. One of its 
Librarians, the late Cardinal Mezzofanti, added to his 
other high intellectual attainments, that of being the 
best Linguist ever known. It is said that he was mas- 
ter of forty-two different Languages, in most of which 
he conversed fluently. Lord Byron, who visited this 
eminent man, described him as " a walking Library, 
who ought to have lived at the time of the Tower of 
Babel, as a Universal Interpreter; a real miracle, and 
without pretension. I tried hirn in all the Languages 
of which I knew only an oath or an abjuration of the 
gods against postillions, savages, pirates, boatmen, gon- 
doliers, muleteers, camel drivers, postmasters, horses and 
houses ; and by Heaven he puzzled me in my own 
idiom." 

The Bologna Sausage, which you see exposed invitingly 
at shop windows, though tempting to the eye, is too 
highly flavored with Garlic to suit our tastes. 

Bologna has been distinguished through all time for 
its devotion to Kepublicanism. Her citizens have on 
all occasions devoted themselves to the cause of Free- 
dom. They are evidently an intelligent and enterpris- 
ing People. 



Letters from Europe. 573 



XXVII. 

FERRARA, April 23, 1852. 

Our route to-day from Bologna to Ferrara has been 
through one of the most fertile and beautiful countries 
my eye ever rested on. For nearly forty miles, and on 
either side of the road as far as your vision extended, 
was a broad plain, perfectly level and broken into fields 
by rows of Lombard)- Poplars, which afford a support 
for vines that grow luxuriantly. Instead of the numer- 
ous old Towns that you encounter elsewhere in Italy, 
here are only Farm Houses, in and around which there 
is an appearance of comfort that reminds us of Home. 

Ferrara is a very Ancient City, with annals as 
eventful as most of its kindred Cities. It once con- 
tained 100,000 inhabitants, though its population has 
dwindled down to less than 30,000. 

We came in at 2.1 o'clock, and ordering Dinner for 
five, sallied out immediately " sight-seeing." Anxious 
to see the best works of Garofalo, some of whose Pic- 
tures we saw at Rome, we went first to the Church of 
St. Francisco and then to the Cathedral. From thence 
to the Dungeon in which Tasso was confined seven 
years, upon the walls of which is his name, and where 
Byrox and other distinguished Poets have since cut 
their own. Our next object was the Library, in which 
there are manuscripts of Ariosto and Tasso, but for 
this we were too late. 



574 Thurlow Weed's 

We then proceeded to the Castle or Ducal Palace of 
the Ferrara Family in its days of Power, now the 
residence of a Cardinal. It was built many centuries 
ago, and is a " grand, gloomy and peculiar " structure, 
with Towers, Moat, Draw-bridge, &c. In the Dun- 
geons of this Palace the Tragedy, upon which Byron 
founded his Poem of " Parisina, " was enacted. We 
were taken to the frightful cells in which Parisina and 
Ugo were confined, and where they paid with their 
lives the penalty of then* guilty loves. 

Returning, we saw a Procession of Priests escorting 
the Cardinal Legate to the Cathedral, whither we also 
repaired to Vespers. 

On our way back to the Hotel, I was not a little sur- 
prised to see in a Theatrical Poster, that " Macbeth " 
is to be played in Ferrara ; and approaching it, I was 
still more surprised to find among the " Dramatis Per- 
sona?," the name of Augusta Maywood ! This Lady 
(the Daughter of my old friend Maywood, the Actor, 
Scholar and Gentleman) was born in Philadelphia. 
And yet I find her name in a bill to play to-morrow 
night in Northern Italy ! I should like, for the nov- 
elty of the thing, to hear Macbeth done in Italian, but 
we depart in the morning. 

Padua, April 24. 

Leaving Ferrara at six o'clock this morning we have 
been all day traveling through a lovely country. Seven 
miles from Ferrara we crossed the River Po, which is 
about as broad as the Mohawk at Schenectady, with a 
rapid, discolored current. The process of crossing was 
novel. A long line is made fast to a buoy in the centre 
of the River an hundred rods above the Ferry. This 



Letters feom Eueope. 575 

line was attached to the bow of our Boat, which, by the 
action of the current, was soon carried to the opposite 
shore. This, to me, was a new, simple and cheap pro- 
pelling power. The line was kept out of the water by 
nine small canoes placed at equal distances between the 
Buoy and Ferry Boat. The helm only is iised in 
crossing. 

Along the River you see numerous Flouring Mills 
riding at Anchor, the wheels of which are turned by 
the current. They are of primitive construction, but 
are said to make tolerable Flour. The supply of water 
never fails, and for " Custom Work " they seem a very 
good sort of Mill. 

The road, after crossing the Po, perfectly straight 
and level for twenty miles, is shaded delightfully by 
rows of Lombardy Poplars, of uniform size, making 
an avenue of extreme beauty. About twelve miles 
from Padua we approached Mountains clothed in ver- 
dure and cultivated to their tops. This was a new and 
pleasant feature, for since we left Marseilles, traveling 
over 1,000 miles, we had not seen a Mountain that 
rejoiced in a tree, or vine, or shrub, or blade of grass. 
These fertile Mountains evidently add much to the 
aggregate wealth of the Country adjacent, for nowhere 
in Italy are there such unequivocal evidences of pros- 
perity. Here, not only the Valleys but the Hills " drop 
their fatness." And here stately Mansions and lofty 
Palaces abound. 

Padua is not behind other Italian Cities in its histor- 
ical interest. It claims to have given birth to many 
distinguished men, to the memory of whom they have 
preserved numerous memorials in Marble and Bronze. 



576 Thuelow "Weed's 

The remains of Antenoe, the Founder of their City, 
and of'Livy, are held in the highest reverence. In 
approaching Padua, the Church of San Antonia, with 
its eight splendid Cupolas, is highly effective ; and in 
entering it you are delighted with its beautiful Park, 
surrounded by water and adorned with Fountains and 
Statuary. 

From Padua we take the Eailroad to Venice. This, 
after four days' traveling by Vetturini, is a great relief 
There are many annoyances incident to Travel through 
Italy, whether by Dilligence, Post or Vetturini, which, 
if you choose, would render you constantly unhappy. 
But we have kept our tempers so far, though pretty 
severely tried by the various modes of plunder and 
extortion resorted to by those you deal with. 



Letters from Europe. 577 



XXVIII. 

VENICE, April 26, 1852. 

We came " on board " this " glorious City in the Sea " 
(as Rogers calls it) in a Gondola by moonlight. I say 
" came on board," for to me Venice seems like a huge 
Ship moored away out in a broad Bay. Its approaches 
from the land are all by water, and instead of intercom- 
munication by streets you go about from House to 
House in Boats. We stepped from the Railroad Sta- 
tion into a Gondola, which took us some two miles 
through winding Canals, some broad and some narrow, 
to the step of our " Hotel Royal, San Marco." 

The Gondola of Venice is long and narrow and sharp 
at either end. It sits lightly on the water, over which 
it glides noiselessly. It is propelled by one or two oars 
(as you choose) by Watermen who stand up behind the 
oar. If you take a Gondola for the day with two oars 
it costs twelve shillings of our money. If you have 
but a single Waterman, though his oar is on the side of 
the Boat he steers her by a reversed motion of the oar 
as easily as if another man held a rudder. The Gon- 
dolas are all painted black, and though graceful in form, 
are not as gay as the Pictures we see. 

The Grand Canal is the Broadway of Venice. It is 
lined with Palaces. In being rowed through it, our 
Gondolier pointed out those belonging to the Duke of 
Bordeaux, the h^itiin;it<j Heir to the Throne of France; 



578 Thuelow Weed's 

to the Countess GtUiccioli, adjoining that once occupied 
by Lord Byron ; two belonging to Taglioni ; the Ducal 
Palace, and several occupied by Doges in the days of 
the Republic. 

Gondolas are a luxury compared with Hacks and 
Cabs. Indeed there is no other mode of conveyance so 
luxurious. 

Early yesterday morning I observed numerous boats 
with Soldiers approaching San Marco from different 
points, and proceeding to the Square, I saw a review of 
several thousand Austrian Troops. 

At two o'clock we returned to the Square to witness 
the novel and interesting ceremony of " Feeding the Pig- 
eons " Hundreds of People had collected with the 
same object. The " Pigeons" (or Doves) were coming in 
from different directions and lighting about the windows 
and cornices of a Marble Palace, where they sat quite 
gravely until the first sound of the Clock of San Marco 
striking the horn* of two was heard, when the whole 
flock simultaneously settled down upon the pavement 
under the window from which the seed was thrown and 
from which they have been fed, at the same moment 
every day, from a period so remote that " the memory 
of man runneth not to the contrary." To-day we went 
again to the same place. The Pigeons began to collect 
a quarter before two, evidently as intent upon their din- 
ners as the same number of children, or " children of a 
larger growth" would have been. Other Bells sounded 
a few minutes before two, and another Clock struck a 
minute before, but not a Dove moved until the hammer 
was heard on the Clock of San Marco, and instantly 
every wing spread and the flock again settled to the 



Letters from Europe. 579 

pavement. While busily picking up their food a dog 
gamboled round amongst them, and children walked 
into the ring without disturbing them at all. Some say 
that the Government provides the food for the Doves. 
Others say that a Lady, centuries ago, provided in her 
"Will for the feeding of the Pigeons ; but none know 
when or why the practice originated. 

Venice was built on a cluster of small Islands, but 
by far the larger portion of the City is founded upon 
piles and mason-work in the sea. It has 146 Canals. 
one of which (the Grand Canal) is navigable for ves- 
sels. Over this there is but one bridge, the Rialto. 
Over the smaller canals there are nearly 400 bridges, 
which vary in depth from four to thirty feet. Through 
what were originally islands, there are narrow streets, 
and many Buildings have both a water and land front. 

Much of the interest of Venice is concentrated about 
the Piazza of St. Mark. Here is the Ducal Palace, in 
front of which is the " Stone of Shame," by standing on 
which Bankrupts formerly obtained exemption from 
their debts. Near the Palace is the Cathedral of St. 
Mark, to construct and adorn which the Venetians 
plundered many Oriental Cities. Among these spoils 
are no less than ;j0() Marble Pillars. Over the entrance 
stands the four bronze horses brought from the Hippo- 
drome at Constantinople in the time of the Crusades. 
i'akih plundered Venice of these when he con- 
quered Italy, but they were restored in 1S1"). Their 
origin is unknown, but they were at Alexandria and 
Rome before Constantino removed them to the Turkish 
Capital. Around the Square or Piazza of St. Mark, 
on three side-, are continuous Marble Palaces, in the 



580 Thurlow Weed's 

basement stories of which are Jewelers and Fancy 
Shops similar to those in the Palais Royal in Paris. 

As many of the old and distinguished Families of 
Venice are extinct, so many of its Palaces are deserted. 
These, with their closed windows and barricaded doors, 
cast saddening shadows over waters by which they are 
situated. Though Venice still has a large, busy and 
moderately prosperous population, yet everything you 
see speaks of the past rather than the present. Its 
glory departed with its commerce. 

It is curious to see a large City like this, from which 
the whole, or nearly the whole, animal creation is 
excluded. Not a Horse, or Mule, or Donkey, or Cow, 
or Coat, or Swine, and scarcely a Dog or Cat, are seen 
in all Venice. 

Water, for the supply of the City, is brought in large 
boats from Rivers running into the Sea. It comes in 
bulk to different points, and is then dipped out into 
large casks and distributed by Gondolas through the 
Canals. Women, with a peculiar costume, supply the 
Dwellings with Water, which they carry in brass buck- 
ets by a yoke across then* shoulders. In the Streets it 
is sold by the glass. 

I am disappointed here, as I was at many places on 
the Mediterranean, in the scarcity of Fish. Instead of 
finding them in abundance, as along our Seaboard, 
there are but few varieties, and those of an inferior 
quality. 

Here, as in all other Italian Cities, are numerous 
works of Art. Several Galleries accessible to strangers 
contain rare Pictures. Here Titian, having nearly 



Letters from Europe. 581 

completed his hundredth year, died. Some of his hest 
Pictures were executed after lie had numbered ninety 
years; his celebrated Portrait of Ariosto, which we 
saw yesterday in the Manfrini Palace, being one of 
them. Among his noblest efforts is the Presentation 
of our Savior, a large Painting which adorns the 
Academia. 

The Merchants of Venice do not, as in former times, 
"congregate" about the Rialto, though this is still a 
busy place. 

The "Bridge of Sighs" is not, as I had supposed, 
one over which citizens pass, but is raised thirty feet 
above a narrow canal, and connects a Prison with the 
Ducal Palace. It is, as you know, the "Bridge of 
Sighs" because persons after receiving sentence crossed 
over it to their Prison, at whose massive iron bars and 
frowning aspect one cannot even now look without 
sighing. Tliis Prison is now a Hospital. 

"We reached here a day too late to welcome our 
friend Dr. Howard Townsexd back from Egypt. Mr. 
W. H. De Witt came from Milan as we are preparing 
to leave for Trieste. 



582 Thurlow Weed's 



XXIX. 

TRIESTE, April 28, 1852. 

The Steamer Archduke Frederick, on board of which 
we left Venice last evening, brought us across the Adri- 
atic Sea in nine hours. Steamers now run every day 
between Venice and Trieste, and unless the business 
should be largely increased they are not likely to be 
annoyed by competition. There were scarcely Passen- 
gers enough to pay for Fuel. We see nothing, or very 
little, of " Opposition " in Europe. In most places there 
is hardly enterprise enough to keep up a single line. 
The only touch of " Opposition " I have seen was at 
Civita Vecchia, the day after Holy Week, when, it 
being known that large numbers of People would 
leave, another Boat came on, taking Passengers at half 
price to Leghorn, Genoa and Marseilles. 

Trieste, as you know, is the principal Port and most 
Commercial City of Austria. It is among the few 
modern Cities of the Ancient World. Its Harbor is 
easy of access and every way safe and commodious. 
The City contains over 70,000 inhabitants and is grow- 
ing rapidly. Several War Steamers lay moored within 
the Mole where most of the Shipping lays, and two large 
Ships-of-War ride at Anchor outside. There are three 
American Ships in Port discharging Cotton. 

Trieste, springing up as it has with comparative sud- 
denness, attracted Merchants from all parts of the 



Letters from Etrope. 583 

world. Among its active, wealthy Merchants, are Eng- 
lish, American, Greek, Italian, Armenian, &c. Its 
Sailors are mostly Dalmatians. All languages are 
spoken here, but the Italian predominates. 

Here you begin to experience the inconvenience of a 
depreciated Currency. Gold in Venice when I left, 
bore a premium of twenty-four per cent. The Cur- 
rency of Austria is now the worst in the world. The 
Notes of the National Bank are twenty per cent below 
par. Most of its Silver (Zwanzigers) are debased. If, 
for a paper Florin or a Zwanziger, change is coming 
back, you are asked to take " Shinplasters " (such as 
circulated with us during and immediately after the 
War), representing three, six, ten and twelve cents. 

Lavbacii, April 30. 

"We have been two days coming by Vetturino from 
Trieste to this place. In coming out of Trieste you 
climb a mountain several thousand feet above the Sea. 
The road is so circuitous that, having traveled five miles 
and reached the summit of the mountain, the City lies 
at your feet, from which, by an air line, you are not 
over a mile. Having attained this height you travel 
twenty miles through rocks and boulders thrown 
together in great confusion by some violent spasm of 
Nature. The Road is Macadamized, but as heavily 
loaded wagons are passing over it, pulverizing the lime- 
stone, the wind that is constantly sweeping over the 
mountain raises blinding clouds of dust. 

Throughout most parts of Europe, Roads, for the 
purposes to which we devote them, are entirely useless. 
We have traveled over them for days and almost 



584 Thurlow "Weed's 

weeks without meeting a loaded Vehicle. But here a 
different and far more pleasant view was presented. 
Immediately on leaving Trieste we saw numerous 
"Pennsylvania Wagons," heavily laden with merchan- 
dise, drawn by three, four and five spans of large horses, 
while we were constantly meeting wagons loaded with 
Lumber, consisting principally of Boards and Ship Tim- 
ber from the vast Forests of Pine, Larch, and Oak that 
abound in Austria and Bohemia. After traveling, as 
we had for months, in countries either barren always, 
or wholly denuded, it was quite refreshing to see natural 
Forests again. I think we met between Trieste and 
Laybach at least 300 loads of Lumber. Many of the 
teams are driven by Women. You see Cows yoked 
like Oxen drawing heavy loads, though it is not as 
common here as in Italy. 

The Railway from Vienna, which now terminates at 
Laybach, is being constructed to Trieste, though this is 
a herculean enterprise, for most of the way the route 
is either through mountains or mountain gorges, which 
present apparently insuperable obstructions. A large 
proportion of the persons employed upon this work 
are females. "While Austria keeps up an Army 
300,000 strong, I suppose that it is indispensable that 
its women should perform the labor of men, though I 
cannot get reconciled to the custom. Among the 
Peasantry of this country, however, there is but little 
indoor work for females. Here is nothing of the 
domestic enjoyments which we possess and prize. 
You see no pretty cottages, no tidy furniture, no pleas- 
ant Homes in which the hours of repose are solaced. 
Men and women labor like cattle and then go like 



Letters from Europe. 585 

beasts to their stalls or stys, to be fed with the coarsest 
food. We talk of our privileges and our enjoyments, 
but. oh! how little we realize of their value! It' we 
could but see the condition of the toiling- millions of 
the Old World, we should give grateful thanks night 
and morning to a bountiful Providence for casting our 
lot in such pleasant places, and labor honestly and 
devotedly to preserve and perpetuate our institutions. 

At Adebsberg, where we lodged, is a Cave or Grotto, 
into which Guides conduct Travelers some four miles. 
Its spacious chambers are decorated with stalactites. 
The interest of this Grotto is increased by the circum- 
stance that the River Poip loses itself near its entrance, 
but is seen several hundred feet below the surface of 
the Earth (in the Cavern) and finally reappears, taking 
another name, at Planina. twelve miles distant. The 
stalactite forms floors, walls, pillars, festoons, &c, for 
the Grotto. The Proteus, amphibious in its nature, but 
inclining to the Fish species, is found in this Cave. 

Lay bach is pleasantly situated in a very fertile 
valley. It has about 15,000 inhabitants. There was a 
Congress of Sovereigns here in 1820. From this place 
we take the Railway for Vienna. The train leaves Lay- 
bach at 7 o'clock this evening, and arrives at Vienna at 
5 to-morrow afternoon. 

Among the Travelers at the Hotel going to Vienna 
this evening, are the Duke of Bordeaux (IIdnky V) and 
the Prince of Colonna. Both are young men. The 
former is lame. The Palace of the latter, at Rome, is 
occupied by one of the newly created Cardinals, whose 
first Reception we attended, to see, as we did, what 



586 Thuelow Weed's 

remains of Roman magnificence in the way of Pearls, 
Rubies, Diamonds, and other valuable ornaments. 

European travel has its novelties, especially to an 
American. Its exactions try the temper of all, though 
we stand them better than the English, many of whom 
scold and chafe from the moment they cross the Chan- 
nel. If you travel Post, every Post Boy claims his 
" bona-manna." If by Vetturini, your driver claims his 
at the end of the Journey. At Hotels, though " Ser- 
vice " constitutes an item in your bill, the Waiter, Cham- 
bermaid, Porter, &c, all stand ready to wish you a " bon 
voyage," in such polite and gentle terms that the appeal 
is irresistible. And then the " Secretary " has such con- 
summate skill in working upon a bill, that while you 
know beforehand what your Apartments, Breakfast and 
Dinner are to cost, the total frequently startles you. 
These extortions lead to practices, in the way of indem- 
nity which are at least ludicrofts. If, for example, four 
want Dinner, you order Fish for two, Butter for two, 
Sugar for two, and Dessert for two, because of these 
things you are sure to get enough for four. In a 
fashionable Hotel, if you are to stay but one night, 
four Wax Candles are lighted in your Parlor, and one — 
sometimes two — in each of your bedrooms. These are 
charged at the rate of twenty cents each. You must, 
therefore, either submit to the imposition or pocket the 
Candles! The practical result is, that your Countess 
and your Baroness, as well as Ladies without Title, who 
at home would scorn to trouble themselves about Candle 
ends, quietly slip them into their Trunks or Carpet 
Bags ! They also fob various articles, for which they 



Letters from Europe. 587 

pay roundly, but in a manner so stealthily that it has 
a petty larceny appearance. 

While my hand is in, let me make a clean breast of 
it. At our Hotel in Vienna the charge for Tea was 40 
cents. As we were paying six dollars a Day for Apart- 
ments, and as the Tea consisted simply of a Dish of 
Tea and a Boll, we ordered only for two, though our 
party consisted of four. And this is so common, that 
those who do not practice upon it are exceptions to the 
rule. Some Travelers, it is said, hide enough of their 
Breakfast to make a Dinner. We content ourselves 
with pilfering a Lunch from our Breakfast Table. The 
justification for all this is, that you pay separately for 
each and everything, and most exorbitantly for the 
"small rations." 



588 Thuklow Weed's 



XXX. 

VIENNA, May 1, 1852. 

Our route from Laybach was through Grratz, Schott- 
wein, Grlochnitz, &c, all large and pleasant Towns. 
The Railway is not yet completed over the Sommering 
Mountain, where Diligences are stationed to supply the 
broken link. Having crossed this mountain you 
descend into a broad Valley interspersed for forty 
miles, which brings you to Vienna, with fertile fields 
and beautiful groves of undergrowth Pines. This 
vast plain resembles, except that it is entirely level, the 
country between Albany and Schenectady. At Neu- 
stadt we passed in sight of Hungary and within a few 
rods of its boundary line. 

Vienna, one of the great Capitals of Europe, is a 
beautiful City — in some respects the most beautiful I 
have ever seen. Its population is about equal to that 
of the City of New York. Its aspects are all decidedly 
attractive. The Streets are generally wide, well paved 
and remarkably clean, though you don't see how they 
are kept so. Its "lungs" (as its Parks, Gardens, Prater, 
&c, are appropriately called) are more extensively 
accessible, and quite as beautiful as those of any City 
in the World. Those who live in the heart of the City 
can, by a walk of from five to ten minutes, reach the 
Grlacis, a continuous Park handsomely ornamented with 
Trees and Flowers, which entirely surrounds the City. 



Letters from Europe. 589 

In this Park are CatV-s. Restaurants, Grottos, and 
Arbors. Fronting the Glacis are two or three Royal 

Palaces and the .Mansions of the Nobility. Without 
the G lads are the suburbs, which constitute, however, 
a large portion of the City. 

The Prater, or Hyde Park of Vienna, is a delight- 
fully wooded green, over a mile in width and four miles 
long. It is thronged every afternoon ; but on Sundays, 
and especially on Festadays, the display of Carriages, 
including all classes, from that of the Emperor to the 
humblest Citizen, is truly brilliant. The great day for 
the Prater is Easter Monday. Next to that is May-day, 
and on this latter occasion we were there, but the 
weather was unfavorable, and the turnout was not all 
that was expected. 

Upon the Prater are amusements suited to all classes. 
There is a Circus, Museum, Music, Magicians, Ball- 
Rooms, Fire-Works, &c, &c. Soldiers are stationed 
here, as indeed they are everywhere in Vienna, to pre- 
serve order. In this respect Vienna is a model City. 
It is impossible to find 400,000 People moving so 
actively and yet so tranquilly. The presence of a 
mighty Military force has something to do with all this, 
of course. Paris glistened with Bayonets immediately 
after the c'unp d'etat, but that City was less thoroughly 
Military in all its aspects than this, where almost every 
second man you meet is in Military costume. Vienna 
is literally thronged with Austrian < Officers, whose snow- 
white Uniforms are very rich. Indeed, 1 have never 
seen a more graceful robe than the white broadcloth 
('loakof the Austrian Officers, Jusl aow, when the 
Emperor of Russia is expected, many Regiments are 



590 Thurlow "Weed's 

marching into the Capital, so that Vienna is more than 
usually martial in all its appearance. 

There are many objects of deep and absorbing inter- 
est here, but as our stay is limited, we can only visit the 
more prominent. The Palace of Schonbrunn, two miles 
from Vienna, and the Summer Residence of the Royal 
Family, attracted our attention first. Its magnificent 
Garden is claimed to surpass that at Versailles. Its 
walls are everywhere ornamented with Family Pic- 
tures, the most valuable of which are the numerous 
Portraits of Maria Theresa and Maria Antoinette. 
Of the latter there are at least a dozen, tracing her from 
infancy to womanhood. 

This Palace was the residence of Napoleon in 1809. 
It was while standing at one of its windows that the 
German Student fired at him, the ball taking effect a 
few inches above his head. This person, it is known, 
Bonaparte sent for, questioned, and desired to pardon ; 
but when he avowed his determination, if liberated, to 
renew the attempt to rid his country of a Tyrant, he 
was ordered to execution. The chamber which Bona- 
parte slept in was the same in which his Son, the King 
of Rome, died. Another Son of Maria Louisa, born 
at Parma, resides in this City. 

We saw the Emperor yesterday driving through the 
Graben in a light two-horse wagon, with a single 
attendant. He is, as you know, scarcely twenty-one 
years old, and looks even younger than he is. He is 
slender, fair complexioned and handsome. His Corona- 
tion, which has been expected for several months, is 
still deferred. Various causes for the delay are con- 



Lettebs phom Europe. 591 

jectured, among- which is the loss of the Crown of 
Hungary. 

The ex-Emperor, who abdicated during- the troubles 
of 1849, '50, resides at Prague. The Empress Mother, 
who is a woman of superior mind, and almost gigantic 
frame, resides with her Son in the Royal Palace. 

We looked through the Royal Carriage House to day. 
This is, I infer, about the most gorgeous "turnout" in 
the world. It at any rate casts the Carnage Establish- 
ment of Queen Victoria entirely into the shade. The 
State Carriage, made for Maria Theresa, and used on 
Coronation occasions, is truly magnificent. Massive, 
chased and tesselated gold abounds. Its Panels were 
painted by Rubens. Ranged next to this are six very 
rich and beautiful Royal Coaches, and on the opposite 
side are half a dozen superb Sleighs, the rich Furs 
belonging to which are trimmed with heavy gold fringe. 
And then from an hundred to an hundred and fifty 
Carriages of various sizes and fashions, any one of 
which, in America, would be considered decidedly 
aristocratic. In the Royal Stables are more than 400 
Horses. 

The Imperial Library presents so many objects of 
profound interest, that a visit of an hour, or a day. is 
but an aggravation. It contains nearly 300,000 Vol- 
umes and lfi,000 Manuscripts. Among the curiosities 
of this vast literary storehouse, is the Manuscript psalm 
book of ChaELEMAGNE; Title Deeds of a Convent 
written on Papyrus in the fifth Century ; Tasso's .Man- 
uscripts of Jerusalem Delivered; a Latin Bible printed 
on Parchment by Faust and Sciickitki;, at Mayence. in 
1 159. Connected with the Library is a collection of 



592 Thurlow Weed's 

Engravings which numbers over 300,000, among which 
are the most rare and valuable prints ever published. 

Then comes the Imperial Jewel Office, displaying 
a Regalia so brilliant and costly as to amaze and bewil- 
der simple Americans ! Here are the Crowns of Char- 
lemagne, of Bodolph II, and of Napoleon when made 
King of Lombardy at Milan. Beside these costly Bau- 
bles are Gems and Diamonds alike precious and 
priceless. 

In the Cabinet of Antiquities there is almost an end- 
less succession of very interesting and valuable curiosi- 
ties, among which is a magnificent Cameo and an 
enormous Onyx ; and of coins and medals there are 
134,000. 

Then come the Museum of Natural History, Cabinet 
of Minerals, &c, but as these would consume time that 
we cannot spare, we pass to the Church of the Augustines, 
where Canova's Marble Croup at the Tomb of the 
Archduchess Christina excites such universal admir- 
ation, as it certainly should, for here Marble is made to 
express deep, absorbing, heartfelt grief, far more touch- 
ingly than language. In this group are five figures, 
all as large as life, and all exquisitely executed. If the 
Archduchess Christina was not the personification of 
Virtue and Benevolence, genius has been wickedly pro- 
faned in her monument. 

The Cathedral of St. Stephens, after all the great 
churches we have seen, is a structure of vast interest. 
It stands in the heart of the City, and has many exte- 
rior and interior attractions. It was completed in the 
14th Century. The Tower is 465 feet high. The 
large Bell in this Tower was cast from 180 brass Can- 



Letters from Europe, 593 

non taken from, the Turks in 1683. From this Tower 
you overlook Bonaparte's great battle-fields of Wag- 
ram, Essling, &c. 

Of the numerous Galleries of Art I have only visited 
one, the Belvidere, and that mainly to see some of the 
best Pictures of Rubens, whose power to create, on 
canvas, what seems real, living flesh, surpasses that of 
all other Painters. In this Gallery, however, among 
many other valuable Pictures, is the head of an old 
Woman, by Denner, of such wonderful excellence, so 
life-like, so true to simple nature, so much more like an 
old Woman than like a Portrait, that it draws and fas- 
tens the attention of every visitor. It requires no culti- 
vation, no reading, no taste, to appreciate this Picture. 
Prince and Peasant, high and humble, enjoy it alike. 
No suggestion or promptings are necessary. Its perfec- 
tions instantly reveal themselves. We had neither 
heard of the Picture or the Painter, and yet it arrested 
and fixed our attention, as it does others, for as long a 
time as we had to spare. This head alone, if the Artist 
had done nothing else, is glory enough for one man. 
But they say that the Gallery at Dresden is full of 
gems by the same Painter. 

The Hon. Mr. McCurdy, our Charge d' Affaires here, 
makes Vienna as pleasant as possible to the Americans 
who visit it. In this duty he is seconded by his Daugh- 
ter, an accomplished young Lady. Though things have 
occurred to disturb the feelings, if not the relations, for- 
merly existing between Austria and America, Mr. 
McCurdy is treated here with all the courtesy and 
respect due to his public character. He had a long 
interview, a few days since, with the Minister of State, 

75 



594 Thurlow Weed's 

who succeeded the late Prince Schwarzenburg, the 
result of which was quite satisfactory. 

Mr. McCurdy is a Connecticut "Whig, whose Whig 
principles will neither wear nor wash out. He is the 
right sort of a man for the public service, and will be 
found faithful always. He has acquired much useful 
information here in regard to the condition and policy 
of European Governments. He goes with his Daugh- 
ter, on Friday, to Venice, Florence and Rome. 

The Hon. Mr. Morris, our Representative at Naples, 
was to leave that place on an Oriental Excursion, on 
the 23d of April. 

Mr. Cass, when we left Rome, talked of a visit to 
Paris, with a view to Medical advice in relation to his 
eyes, from which he has suffered some time. Upon the 
question of Principle, which divides America and Europe, 
we need not desire firmer or truer men than Messrs. 
Morris, Cass and McCukdy. 



Letters from Europe. 595 



XXXI. 

VIENNA, May 8, 1852. 

Our visit here has been protracted on account of that 
of the Emperor of Russia, whom we desired to see 
Learning from Mr. McCurdy, our Minister, that the Czar 
was to arrive in a special train from Erlau at 1 1 o'clock 
to-day, we repaired to the Railway Station early. The 
Russian Embassy arrived soon after, and following 
came, incog., or rather in a close Carriage, the Emperor 
of Austria. Then came, in Court Carriages, sundry 
Generals, Marshals, Embassadors, Princes, &c. 

As the Emperor of Russia travels now as a Prince 
only, his reception was to be a simple one. The streets 
were, however, from the Railway Station to the Palace, 
lined with people. 

The Russian Emperor arrived a few minutes before 
one o'clock, and was immediately shown into an open 
two-horse wagon, which, the Emperors of Russia and 
Austria being seated, was driven off at tip-top speed, 
preceded by another wagon in which a Royal Cham- 
berlain rode. Numerous Carnages, with highly liver- 
ied outriders, with Princes, Diplomats and Generals, 
followed, while we, with other plebeians, in Hackney 
Coaches, followed. 

The Emperor of Russia was dressed in the uniform 
of an Hungarian Hussar, while the uniform of the 
Emperor of Austria was that of a Russian Cavalry 



596 Thuelow Weed's 

Officer. Each wore tall Caps with Feathers. The 
Emperor of Russia, though not as handsome in the 
features of his face as I expected, has an erect, com- 
manding person, and in his high, courtly bearing, 
reminds you of General Scott. He is, it is said, 
accompanied by his Son and Daughter-in-Law. 

The Imperial Visitor remains a week. There is to 
be a grand Review on Monday, to be succeeded by 
other demonstrations. We await the Review only. 

Sunday, May 9. 

We went early this morning to the Royal Chapel, in 
front of which an immense crowd had already assem- 
bled. Observing large niimbers of Officers entering the 
Palace, we presented oiuselves at the Porch and were 
unexpectedly admitted. Passing between lines of richly 
dressed Guards up the stairway and through three mag- 
nificent Apartments, we came to that which connects 
with the Chapel, where hundreds of the Nobility, Mar- 
shals, Generals, Diplomatists, &c, were awaiting the 
arrival of the Imperial Household. Here I had leisure 
to examine, what I had so often read of incredulously, 
the costly Coats, Cloaks, Stars, &c, with which the high 
in rank, at these rich courts, adorn themselves. But I 
am no longer incredulous. The reality transcends the 
description. In these Rooms were a dozen persons who 
wore about them what would exceed in value more than 
as many hundred thousand dollars. There was a Star 
on the breast of one person whose diamonds could not 
have been worth less than fifty thousand dollars. 
There were also as many as an hundred Officers whose 
uniforms were blazoned with gold, and whose bosoms 



Letters from Europe. 597 

sparkled with diamonds. There were also, among the 
Veteran Marshals and Generals of Austria, some men 
of giant frames. I saw two who were full six feet and 
a half high, and others from six feet two to six feet four 
inches in height. 

At half-past eleven, as all eyes looked in one direc- 
tion, it was evident that their Majesties were approaching. 
First came four Pages in rich gold lace ; then Colonels; 
then Generals; then Marshals; then the Diplomatic 
Corps ; then the Cardinal, Archbishop, &c. ; then the 
Princes ; and finally, four abreast, the Emperors with 
the Son of the Czar and the brother of the Emperor of 
Austria between them. They were uncovered and in 
a -Military undress. At the door of the Chapel the 
Escort opened to the right and left, and the Imperial 
Family entered their private Gallery, after which the 
Generals, Marshals, &c, passed into the Chapel by 
ai mther door. 

We were thus accidentally brought within touching 
distance of two Rulers who hold the destinies of an 
hundred millions of People in their hands — Rulers who 
are not only "Monarchs of all they survey," but whose 
word is Law and whose will is Supreme — Rulers 
between whom and their subjects there is no interme- 
diate or co-ordinate Authority. But there is a Ruler 
over Emperors — a Power above Thrones erected on 
Earth — a Ruler in the Heavens, before whom these 
Monarchs were about to bend their knees. This was 
done with much of "pomp and circumstance," but this, 
in my eye, only added to the lining humility of two 
proud Monarchs confessing their dependence upon, and 
asking the forgiveness of an infinitely Superior King. 



598 Thurlow Weed's 

The Courts and Avenues leading to the Palace, when 
we came out, were thronged with thousands waiting to 
catch a glance at the Notables who were departing in 
then- splendid Coaches. 



Letters from Europe. 599 



XXXII. 

VIENNA, Sunday Evening, May 9, 1852.1 

At three o'clock this afternoon we drove to the Prater, 
and as the day was fine, the scene was truly magnifi- 
cent. The Emperors were expected, and all Vienna was 
out. I have told you how extensive and beautiful these 
grounds are. I wish I could describe them as they 
appeared to-day. On one side of the broad carriage- 
way is an Avenue for Ladies and Gentlemen on Horse- 
back, while on the other a broader one for Citizens on 
foot. By four o'clock there were two lines of Carriages, 
in close order, extending nearly three miles. The 
Coaches, the Horses, the Harness, the Liveries, &c, were 
in keeping with the magnificently dressed persons who 
rode in them, Equestrians of Aristocratic bearing, upon 
high blooded animals, were dashing through that Ave- 
nue ; while from an hundred to an hundred and fifty 
thousand People either lined the Avenues, gathered 
around the Cafes listening to fine German Bands, or 
strolled about the grounds. 

To-morrow the Emperor of Russia is to Review the 
Army of his Brother of Austria. There is said to be 
30,000 Troops preparing for this Review. We hope to 
be " there to see." 

Il'turning late from the Prater, we went for our din- 
ners to the Coffee-room of our Hotel (Archduke 
Charles, and the best in Vienna), where a dozen or fif- 



600 Thuelow Weed's 

teen Tables were spread, and groups of from three to 
ten seated, some just taking then- Soup, and others 
going through their Meat courses, and others again at 
their Dessert. Most of the persons at Table were Offi- 
cers, with some of whom were Ladies. But the pecu- 
liarity which struck me was that the Gentlemen who 
finished then* dinners first invariably lighted a Segar, 
and without rising, smoked away in the faces of those 
sitting by them, whether Ladies or Gentlemen, who 
went on with their dinners quite undisturbed. To me, 
the worst feature of this vile habit was, that the Segars 
were infernally bad. 

The Viennese have a way of concealing their pov- 
erty, if indeed that bitter ingredient be an element here, 
as elsewhere, in great Cities. You see no Beggars. 
Nor do you see any apparently very Poor People. 
There are no idlers about the streets. In all these 
respects Vienna differs from other Cities. 

The Austrians, as a People, are industrious and frugal. 
There are but few Drones in this great Hive. But 
those few consume all the honey, while the laboring 
Bees get only a bare subsistence. The support of a 
gay Court, with an Army nearly 400,000 strong, brings 
the sweat from the brows of many toiling millions. 

Mondat, May 10. 

"Well, we have seen one of the great Military 
Pageants of the Earth. We have looked upon two 
live Emperors, Nicholas I of Russia, and Joseph II of 
Austria, at the head of an "Army with Banners." 

It was understood that the Review was fixed for 10 
o'clock. Knowing that the Russian Emperor was 



Letters from Europe. C01 

prompt in his movements, wo drove out to the "Glacis 
JosephstadV at that hour. The Troops "were afield 
and in line," and at ten minutes past ten the Emperors, 
with a niagnifieontly dressed Staff of Aids, Archdukes, 
Princes, Marshals, Generals, &(.:, etc., dashed, with their 
high-blooded aud proud steeds, upon the ground. A 
bright Sun gave the fullest effect to all this gorgeous 
and glittering Paraphernalia of War. The Emperors 
were dressed in the Uniform of the Polish Lancers, 
their Aids in Crimson and Gold, the others of the 
Staff in the Uniforms of their respective Corps. 

There were upwards of 30,000 troops in the field, of 
which l'0,000 were Infantry and Rifle, and 10,000 Cav- 
alry and Artillery. Of the mounted men, 3,000 were 
Lancers, and streaming from each Lance was a black 
and yellow flag. 

The Emperor of Russia, with one Aid-de-Camp, a 
f<\\- rods in advance of the Emperor of Austria and 
Stuff, rode in front of the line (or rather of the three 
lines), stopping at the head of each Battalion and 
addressing a few words to the Officers. This occupied 
nearly an hour. He then, with his Staff, which con- 
sisted of more than 300 splendidly mounted Officers, 
took a position in front of the centre of the line, which 
immediately passed him in Review. The different 
Corps, whether by Battalion, Regiment or Brigade, 
formed in Sections of three hies, fifty deep, giving 150 
men to each Section or Company. There was a march- 
ing distance of about six rods between each Section. 
The Band of each Division, as they reached theEmpe- 
ror. moved out to the left, and playing until their Corps 

had passed, was succeeded by the next. The line was 
78 



602 Thuklow Weed's 

two hours in passing. After this there was a Review 
of a Regiment of Lancers, whose Horses were put to 
the top of their speed. The effect was thrilling. And 
this closed the day. The Emperors returned to the 
Palace, and the Troops to their Quarters. There were 
a large number of Court Ladies, in Court Carriages, 
upon the field. Among these was the Mother of the 
Emperor of Austria, a woman whose influence is sup- 
posed to be as potent with the Son as it was with her 
Husband, the ex-Emperor, who lives very quietly at 
Prague. 

Notwithstanding the difference between our Govern- 
ment and Austria, we have experienced nothing of 
annoyance or difficulty here, either with Luggage or 
Passports. The Austrian Officers have been remark- 
ably civil ; and the examination of Trunks has been so 
slight that a Lady suggested that the Custom House 
really ought to be complained of for neglect of duty. 
Austria is a pleasant country to travel through ; but, 
for those who pay the Taxes, not so pleasant to reside in. 



Letters from Europe. 603 



XXXIII. 

PRAGUE. May 11, 1852. 

This ancient City, with its 130,000 inhabitants, figures 
more largely in history than upon the map, though it 
is pleasantly situated in a narrow Valley on the River 
Molclau. Its Domes and Spires are a prominent fea- 
ture. Its Palace, the former residence of Bohemia's 
Kings, overlooking the Town, has a most imposing 
effect. Its Bridge, which was a century and a half in 
the progress of construction, is 1,790 feet long and is 
ornamented with 285 Statues of Saints. It is a magni- 
ficent structure. 

We came here from Vienna by the Brunn Railroad, 
which passes, for the most part, through a very fertile 
country that produces immense quantities of Wheat. 
The plain, for twenty miles after leaving Vienna, but that 
it is not perfectly level, would resemble a broad Prairie. 
You see thousands of Acres without a fence, or a tree, 
or a house, on which Wheat is growing. The land is 
evidently owned by the Nobles of the Empire and 
worked by Peasants, who live in Cottages or Cabins 
clustered together like those of the Slaves in the West 
Indies. 

We passed a few miles out of Vienna, in full view 
of Bonaparte's Bal tie-field of Wagram, which, as well as 
that of Essi.int;, were watched by the Viennese from the 
Tower of St. Stephen's Cathedral, with what solicitude 



604 Thurlow Weed's 

you can imagine. We passed also, though not so near, 
the great field of Austerlitz. We also saw the Battle- 
field where in 1757 the Allied Armies of Austria and 
Saxony defeated Frederick the Great. 

The distance between Vienna and Prague is 250 
English miles. The Railroad runs much of the way 
along the banks of the River Elbe, and passes through 
parts of Moravia and Bohemia. It is managed with 
great care, and, if labor costs anything, at great expense, 
for there is an army of men connected with its Stations 
and along its track. 

Brunn, the capital of Moravia, has a population of 
40,000. We looked with interest at the ancient Castle 
of Spielberg (now a Prison for Political offenders), 
where Silvio Pellico was incarcerated for eight years, 
and until released by the ex-Emperor. Gen. Mach, who 
surrendered Ulm to the French, was also confined there. 

The inhabitants of Brunn are engaged extensively 
and prosperously in the manufacture of Woolen Goods. 

At Reigern we saw the Convent where Marshal 
Davoust encountered the retreating Army of the Allies, 
after their defeat the day before at Austerlitz, and made 
a finish of the War. 

Let me, however, improve our brief stay at Prague. 
There is an old Watch-Tower at the end of the Bridge 
I spoke of, which is held in great veneration from the 
circumstance that, when all else was lost in the " Thirty 
Years War," it enabled the Bohemians to prevent the 
Swedes from crossing, though their efforts were repeated 
daily for fourteen weeks. 

Near the Bridge is a Seminary, the Library of which 
contains 100,000 volumes and 3,700 manuscripts, includ- 



Letters from Europe. 605 

ing Autographs of John HlTSS, LUTHER and Wickliffe. 
The reformer Husa was a native of Prague. 

Here, also, is the great University that once boasted 
of its 40,000 Students, coming, as they did. from all 
parts of Europe. But in consequence of Religious 
differences in 1409, over 20,000 students left in a -week. 
Soon after this, Universities which have attained such 
a high rank in Germany, -were established. There are 
several thousand students here now. 

By the way, the " Schoolmaster is abroad " in Tur- 
key : or, if he is not, he is to be. In the Cars from 
Vienna were ten Turkish Boys, each about 12 years 
old, on their way to Germany to be instructed in the 
French, German and English Languages, and then to 
return as Teachers in Turkey. 

Prague has been, in other times, the Theatre of 
many terrible conflicts, most of which are commem- 
orated by monuments or ruins. There are several 
very old Churches here, in one of which the sendee is 
still read in the Bohemian Language. That in which 
Johx Husa Preached, and the House opposite, in 
which he lived, are pointed out to you. 

There is, as usual in European Cities, a " Jews' Quar- 
ter," but they are not, as formerly, shut up after a given 
hour in the Evening. It is said that this colony of 
Jews established themselves here immediately after the 
destruction of Jerusalem. They preserve all their 
customs and peculiarities, and are Jews according to 
the manner "of the strictest of their sect." They wear 
long flowing gowns and hats without ri:::s. They have 
five Synagogues, several Schools, Magistrates and a 



606 Thurlow Weed's 

Town Hall of their own. Though living in the midst 
of others, they are wholly and entirely a distinct 
People. The Statistics of Prague show that the Jew- 
ish inhahitants increase faster and are longer lived 
than their immediate neighbors. 

The Palace of the Waelenstein Family was once 
the great glory as it is now the prominent ruin of 
Prague. It was a splendid structure, one of the most 
so in Europe. Formerly when a Prince Wallenstein 
traveled he was attended by Barons, Knights, &c. 
with a regiment of Cavalry and a numerous retinue of 
Servants; fifty Carriages were required for himself and 
suite, and fifty wagons for his Furniture, Wines, Provi- 
sions, &c. But the glory of most of this class of Rulers 
has departed. 

There is elsewhere the Palace of the Bohemian Kings, 
very large and imposing. It was occupied for several 
years by the late Charles X, ex-King of France. 
I believe that the ex-Emperor of Austria, a weak man, 
who abdicated in 1849, resides here now. 

There is a Gallery here containing 1,400 Pictures, 
hung in sixteen Rooms, most of which, however, are 
of an inferior class. 

We could learn one lesson from Austria with great 
advantage to our People. This is the Art of making 
good Bread, which, being as it is here, universal, is 
really a great national blessing. We were struck first 
at Trieste with the fine quality of Bread at our Hotel. 
At all the Eating Houses between Trieste and Vienna 
we remarked the excellence of the Bread. Here we 
enjoy the same luxury. Nor is it a luxury for the rich 
alone. The same light, sweet Bread is in all the 



Letters from Europe. 607 

Bake-Shops at prices which enables all classes to pur- 
chase. England has contrived, humanely, to give 
" cheap bread" to her People; but Austria affords it still 
cheaper and of an excellent quality. 

I do not know that this secret for making good 
Bread can be communicated. Perhaps it is owing to 
some peculiarity in the Flour, or in the "Water ; but I 
do know that the Art of making for American People 
such Bread as is eaten throughout Austria, would be 
an acquisition of incalculable value. A Vienna Baker 
who should go to the City of New York and vend such 
Bread as we get here, would be able to ride in his 
Coach and reside on the Fifth Avenue in two years. 
That is, providing the Yankee Bakers did not find out 
his secret. 



608 Thuelow Weed's 



XXXIV. 

DRESDEN, Mat 12, 1852. 

The Railroad from Prague to Dresden, in construc- 
tion, equipment, management, &c, is decidedly the best 
on which I have ever traveled. I have seen no Cars 
that approach these in richness. The cushions, carpets, 
paintings, &c, remind you of the luxuries of a Palace 
rather than a Railroad Car. And the route from Prague 
to this City is one of exceeding interest. The Road 
runs most of the way along the River Elbe, which, 
from the quiet beauty of its scenery, is called the 
" Saxon Rhine." There is a small commerce employ- 
ing a few small Sloops between the two Cities, and 
considerable Lumber is floated down in Rafts. A 
small Steamer runs on it. Before the Railroad was 
constructed she earned most of the Passengers. 

You see, after crossing the boundary line, evidences 
of enterprise and indications of prosperity, which belongs 
not to Austria. Indeed, the atmosphere almost seems 
changed. At any rate, you breathe it more freely. I 
liked what I saw of the Austrian People. And they 
are not responsible for a Despotism of which they are 
themselves the Victims. They threw off the yoke that 
galled them in 1849, but generous and confiding as a 
People ever are, they put their " faith in Princes," who 
have, when reseated upon their Thrones, forgotten their 
promises. This was shamefully true of the Emperor 



Letters from Europe. 609 

pf Austria, who is now, the tables having turned, strong 
enough to rule again with his rod of iron. 

The approach to Dresden is through a very beautiful 
and highly cultivated Country. The season is about 
as far advanced as it is with U8. Saxony, therefore, in 
vegetation and foliage, looks now, on the 12th of May, 
as Oneida and Madison counties look. 

The approach to Dresden charms a Traveler. Flow- 
ers bloom everywhere. The Trees give promise of an 
abundance of Fruit. The Farm Houses look comfort- 
able and the Peasants cheerful. The suburbs of Dres- 
den are not unlike those of Rochester, and there is 
much in the City itself, that reminds us of a former 
Home in the " Queen City." 

Dresden", as you know, is the capital of Saxony, and 
the residence, during all time, of its Kings — Kings, too, 
in earlier ages, in all that relates to wealth and splendor, 
"as is" Kings. But though Saxony has, like other 
Monarchies, her Kings, they are comparatively a plain 
set of People, with simple habits, living and dying like 
other folks at home and in their beds. It has some 
80,000 inhabitants, who are industrious and thrifty. It 
is, in many respects, more like an American than an 
European City. If our own Language was spoken it 
would not be at all difficult to suppose ourselves at 
Home here, especially if we could but see a few fam- 
iliar Home faces. 

The great attraction of Dresden is its Picture Gal- 
lery, where the Sovereigns of Saxony have with great 
liberality been for Centuries gathering the treasures of 
Art. This (lull, tv ciinipcnsates, if there were nothing 
else here, for a journey to Dresden. First of all among 

77 



610 Thurlow "Weed's 

its gems is the " Madonna di San Sisto " of Raphael, 
which is adjudged to be his best Picture, and is, there- 
fore, of course, among the few best in the World. All 
that is lovely beams out in the face of the Madonna, 
and all that is Angelic reveals itself in the features of 
two Cherubs. It is indeed a great triumph of art and 
genius. This, however, is but one of the hundred of 
admirable Paintings that adorn this Gallery. Those 
of Correggio, Titian, Paul, Veeonese, Giorgione, Ben- 
venuto, Gaeofalo, of the Italian School ; of Albert 

DuRER, HOLSTEIN, TeNIERS, RUBENS, Van DyCK, &C, of 

the German, Dutch and Flemish Schools, are each and 
all works of exceeding interest and merit. There are, 
also, several large Architectural Landscapes of Cav- 
aletta, and several Landscape Gems of Brill and 
Brugal ; and several inimitable heads of old men 
and women by Denner. 

This Gallery has been held sacred by even the Con- 
querors of Saxony. Frederick the Great, while bom- 
barding the City, directed his Bombardiers to spare the 
Gallery. And Napoleon, though he enriched the Lou- 
vre by despoiling the Galleries of Italy and Spain, 
respected that of Dresden. But it did not fare quite so 
well in the Revolution of 1849. During the conflict 
the Royal Troops fired from the Gallery upon the Peo- 
ple, by whom it was returned with fatal effect upon the 
Troops, and damaging, to some extent, the Pictures, 
many of which still show their wounds, while the front 
of the Building shows where at least a thousand mus- 
ket balls told. 

From the Picture Gallery we went to the " Green 
Vaults," and hither I wish I could transport all my 



Letters from Europe. Cll 

friends lor an hour, for within these Vaults are Treas- 
ures in diamonds, pearls, rubies and other precious 
stones far richer than anything I had ever imagined. 
The Regalia of England and of Austria, resplendent as 
they are, are cast into the shade by that of Saxony. 

These "Green Vaults" are a range of Apartments 
upon the ground floor of the Royal 1'alaee. They are 
shown to strangers by intelligent men in attendance, 
from whom you purchase Tickets at S2 for a party or 
individual. There are eight Apartments, the contents 
of any one of which would purchase the Steamboats 
Hendrick Hudson and Isaac Newton, while those of the 
last Room, if sold under the hammer," would purchase 
the Collins Line of Steamers, lay a double track on the 
Hudson River Railroad, and complete the Enlarge- 
ment of the Erie Canal ! This looks large, but it is no 
exaggeration ; and I could think of no better mode of 
conveying an idea of the value of these gems. 

I will not weary you with details, but cannot dismiss 
the " Green Vaults " without alluding briefly to a few 
of their contents, such, for instance, as a Service of 
Gold and Silver Plate, which used to be forthcoming on 
Coronation occasions, that would out-weiffh a moderate 
shipment of Gold from California ; Goblets for a Ban- 
quet, composed of gems, which cost 86,000 a piece; 
Vessels formed of Agates, Rock Crystals and Lapis 
Lazulis ; the first Watch, made in 1500, at Nuremberg, 
which bears about the same resemblance to a watch of 
the present day that the old "North River" Steam- 
boat did to Mr. Newton's "New World;" "the Court 
of the Grreal Mogul," a piece of mechanism which cost 
eight years' labor and $58,000, and which, in the Cata- 



612 Thuelow "Weed's 

logue, is denominated " a Trinket ;" various Orders, 
including those of the Garter, the Golden Fleece, Polish 
Eagle, &c, &c, suspended to chains of gold inlaid with 
diamonds ; Antique Cameos of Onyx ; a Sardonyx six 
and a half inches long and four and a quarter broad, 
the largest in the world ; two Rings of Maetin Luthee ; 
and last of all comes a case filled with Sapphires, 
Emeralds, Rubies and Pearls of almost incalculable 
value. The largest of a great number of Rubies weighs 
59 carats. Of the Diamonds, there are sufficient in 
value, it is claimed, to pay the National Debt of Sax- 
ony. Among these are the decorations for a Gala 
Dress of the Elector, consisting of Buttons, Collars, 
Sword Hilt and Scabbard, of the most dazzling bril- 
liancy ; and to crown all is a green brilliant weighing 
160 carats ! 

The Histoeical Museum and the Aemoey are filled 
with objects of absorbing interest. The Suits of Ancient 
Armor are more curious even than those in the 
Tower of England. Among these are several which 
cost a 'modern fortune. The suits of Armor in which 
Augustus I, of Saxony, and an Austrian Archduke 
engaged in single combat, weighs two hundred pounds 
each. The quarrel was about a Lady's Feather. 

The suit of Armor worn by Gustavus Adolphus is 
preserved here, as are also those of Count Tilly and 
John Sobieski. Here, too, is the Armor of Augustus 
II, who is spoken of as a " second Samson," as he cer- 
tainly should have been if he wore that harness, the 
weight of which would stagger a horse. 

Among the Curiosities in another Room are a Scythe 
used by the Poles under Kosminski in his attempted 



Letters from Europe. 613 

Revolution ; the Cocked Hat of Peter the Great ; a 
"Wooden Bowl made by that Artist : and the Saddle on 
which Bonaparte rode and the Boots ho wore at the 
Battle of Dresden. 

The Royal Library contains 300,000 Volumes and 
2,800 Manuscripts. This Library is open to all, and Citi- 
zens enjoy the privilege of taking Books from it to their 
own Apartments. 

There is a handsome Theatre and Opera House here. 
They open at six o'clock and the Plays are generally 
over by nine. 

The very extensive building which contained the 
Cabinets of Natural History, Mineralogy, Zoology, &c, 
was burned in the Revolution of 1849, though much 
of its contents was preserved. The process of recon- 
struction is now going on. 

There are delightful Promenades all around Dresden, 
the environs of which, particularly on the- banks of the 
Elbe, are dotted with neat, freshly painted Villas, where, 
about the grounds, in the Gardens and at the Cafes, 
leisure hours pass most agreeably. 

Among the Literary lights of Dresden were Schiller, 
Korner and Schlegll. They show you here, too, the 
House in which Vox Weber composed his Operas of 
" Der Freischutz " and " Oberon." And only a milo 
out of Dresden, behind a cluster of Cottages, stands, on 
the spot where he fell, a Monument to Gen. Mobeau, 
who, as you know, after leaving the French Army, went 
to America, returned to Europe and received a command 
in the Allied Army. Both his legs were shot off by a 
cannon ball. These were buried on the spot, though 
his body was taken for interment to St. Petecsburgli. 



614 Thurlow "Weed's 

Learning that the Emperor of Russia was expected 
this afternoon we drove down to the Eailway station to 
get another look at him. He was to arrive in a Special 
Train at 7 o'clock. So said the Telegraph. At 6 the 
Russian Embassy, the Aid-de-Camp of the King of 
Saxony, and about one hundred citizens had appeared. 
I asked our Valet de Place if it was known that the 
Emperor was coming ! " Oh, yes," he replied, " but the 
People don't mind Emperors and Kings any more." 
" But," said I, " will not the King of Saxony be here to 
receive the Emperor V He said that the Saxon Mon- 
arch did not wish to appear too friendly with a Monarch 
but for whom the most of Europe would be now enjoy- 
ing Constitutional Freedom ; that the Emperor of 
Austria, the Kings of Saxony and Prussia, &c, &c, 
had, during the Revolution of 1849, promised much, 
but that their promises had been broken ; and that this 
had changed the whole current of feeling ; that for- 
merly, when an Emperor or a King visited Dresden, the 
streets would be decorated, and the People would wel- 
come them with acclamations ; but that all was changed 
now. 

While he was telling me this and other things, a 
Saxon General rode up to the Station, and fifty or sixty 
more people came. At 7 the whistle announced the 
Emperor, who soon came out of the Oar House and 
took a seat in the Carriage of his own Minister at the 
Saxon Court, and was driven through the streets to the 
Palace. Not a voice nor a hat was raised. To such as 
raised their hands in salutation, the Emperor returned 
the civility. He was driven close by our Carriage. 
This gave us a full view of his towering, manly form. 



Letters from Europe. 615 

But he evidently felt this colli, nay, sullen reception. 
It was too marked to pass unobserved. This shows me, 
what has been manifested in other places and in various 
ways, that Emperors and Kings are to be held to some- 
thing more of accountability. They will find it neces- 
sary to consult the interests of their subjects. They 
will not, as heretofore, be held in reverence and homage 
simply because they are Monarchs. But they will be 
loved or hated as they deserve. If, like the King of 
Sardinia, their Government is enlightened and paternal, 
the People will be loyal and affectionate ; while, on the 
other hand, if it be blind and oppressive, the People 
will, as they did in 1849, show that the many are might- 
ier than the few. And when that day comes again, 
quaking Monarchs will not be able to save their Thrones 
by Promises or Oaths, for the People have learned that 
both are as easily broken as made. 



616 Thurlow "Weed's 



XXXV. 

LEIPSIC, Mat 15, 1852. 

We had a pleasant journey, through a well cultivated 
country and a succession of old and interesting German 
towns, from Dresden to Leipsic. The first point of 
importance is Meissen, where the old Castle in which 
the Princes of Saxony formerly resided has been con- 
verted into a Manufactory for the well known Dresden 
China or Porcelain. The first China that Europe pro- 
duced was made here in 1710. 

"While at this Station we learned that the Mother and 
Son of Kossuth, with other members of the Family of 
the Hungarian Patriot, were our fellow passengers. 
They are on their way to America via Hamburgh and 
England. I learned from Mr. McCurdy, at Vienna, 
that he remitted funds for this Family (which had been 
saved from the wreck of their fortune) to Mr. Lawrence, 
in London, and that they were on their way to Eng- 
land ; but I did not anticipate the pleasure of meeting 
them. 

We have reached Leipsic at a moment of such deep 
interest, that I regret to leave it as soon as we are com- 
pelled to. This is the week of their greatest Fair. 
The City is full of strangers, and literally crammed 
with rich and beautiful fabrics. These Fairs draw people 
from all parts of Europe, to the number of thirty, forty, 



Letters from Euroim:. t> 17 

fifty, and in 1834, of eighty thousand. Then (1834) it 
is said that the sales amounted to eighty millions of 
dollars. 

Leipsic is the great Book Mart of Europe. Indeed, 
Books form the most important part of the Trade of 
Leipsic, amounting to nine or ten millions of Francs 
annually. There are an hundred Book Publishers and 
Booksellers here, and five or six hundred more are 
here now attending the Fair. I went this morning 
through an entire Street devoted to Printing and Bind- 
ing. The rattling of Presses and the clicking of Type 
sounded familiarly. I then called upon Mr. Toucknitz, 
who is the Harper of Leipsic, whose establishment 
reminds me of that great American Publishing House. 
Mr. Toucknttz republishes, in English, cheap Editions 
of all the best Works of English and American Authors. 
In his warerooms, beside tons of English Volumes, 
were the Works of Washington Irving and J. Fenni- 
more Cooper, complete. Mr. Toucknitz's Books are 
sold throughout Europe. The present head of the 
House is a Young Man of cultivated mind and agree- 
able manners, who, in his mode of despatching business 
and receiving strangers, reminds you of Fletcher 
Harper. 

The University of Leipsic has a world-wide fame, 
and, next to Prague, is the oldest in Germany. It has 
upwards of 60 Professors and over 1,000 Students. 

In a cellar near the Market Place Dr. Faustus was sup- 
posed to have lived in collusion with him of the Cloven 
Foot. The Market place itself is queer from a pecu- 
liar order, or disorder, of Architecture. Here is the 

Town House in which the Allied Sovereigns met when, 
78 



618 Thuelow "Weed's 

after a tremendous battle, they had driven Napoleon 
from Leipsic. That battle lasted three days. Bona- 
parte contended, during that time, with his 136,000 
troops, against an Allied Army of 230,000. The odds 
were too great, and after performing prodigies of valor, 
Napoleon passed out of Leipsic at one gate while the 
Allies were entering it at another. It is said that but 
for the gallantry of Macdonald and Poniatowski in 
covering his retreat, the French Emperor would have 
been taken Prisoner. The gallant Pole lost his life in 
attempting to swim the River, with two wounds, his 
horse having been killed from under him. The Regi- 
ment which Poniatowski commanded raised a Monu- 
ment to his memory near the spot where he was 
drowned. 

We saw, too, near Leipsic, the spot which was fertil- 
ized for many years by the blood and bones of those 
who fell in the terrific battle between Marshal Ney and 
the Crown Prince of Sweden, and where the Saxons 
went over to the Allies. 

Frankfort-on-the-Maine, May 16. 

We have been passing to-day through a region of 
Country rich alike in historic and classic associations. 
Every Town and almost every House, has its history or 
its legend; and you are constantly passing Castles conse- 
crated either by the gallantry, the wisdom, or the genius 
of German Warriors, Philosophers or Poets. 

Lutzen, as you know, is memorable as the Theatre 
in which two great Military Chieftains figured, G-usta- 
vus Adolphus in 1631, and Bonapaete in 1806 and 
1813. Here an immense boulder from the Scandina- 



Letters from Europe. 619 

vian Mountains, and an Iron Canopy, marks the spot 
where the " Lion of the North fell." Here, too, Napo- 
leon was triumphant in 1806, and suffered a defeat in 
1813. Here Marshal Belcher was wounded. 

WEISSENFELS is but a few miles from Lutzen. To 
this place the body of GuSTAVUfl Adolhu's was 
brought and embalmed. His body was seamed with 
five gun shots, one javelin and two sabre wounds. The 
splendid Castle of the Dukes of Weissenfels is now a 
Barrack. In passing from. "Weissenfels to Naumburgi 
you see the Ruined Castles of Schonburg and Gozech. 

Xaumburg is a town of 10,000 inhabitants, snugly 
ensconced in a Valley of the River Saale, surrounded 
by an amphitheatre of hills covered with vines. Its 
Cathedral is imposing and curious, mixing up, as it does, 
half a dozen styles of Architecture. 

Then comes Weimar, another town of 10,000 inhab- 
itants, surrounded by a rich Agricultural country 
broken by splendid Forests, some of which are of beach 
as large and thrifty as those in America. Weimar is 
still the residence of the Ducal Family whose name it 
bears. If, as I believe, the present head of the Family 
is that Grand Duke of Saxe Weimar who was many 
years ago in America, he is even more distinguished for 
his talents than his rank. 

The Grand Dukes of Weimar have ever been liberal 
patrons of genius. Though neither of them were " to 
the manor bora," yet Goethe, Schtlleb, Wieland, 
Herder, &C, resided here many years as the guests and 
friends of the Grand Dukes. (Joethe and Herder 
died here. The Palace, I 'ark and Gardens of the Grand 
Duke stretch along the river Ihn. 



620 Thurlow Weed's 

Jena, another of Bonapakte's sanguinary battle- 
fields, lies a few miles south of Weimar. 

The German Diet talks of purchasing' the House 
of Goethe, with its contents, for preservation. The 
Furniture is plain, and the House of but little value, 
except as the House of the great Poet. 

On our arrival at Weimar we learned that the Empe- 
ror of Russia was only a few hours behind us in an 
Extra Train. Some Troops, with the Municipal Author- 
ities, and the carriage and suite of the Grand Duke (for 
whom the visit is intended) were in waiting. Several 
hundred Citizens had also collected at the Station. 
The Emperor finally came amid an outpouring of rain, 
so that his reception was necessarily hurried and 
informal. 

Next comes Erfurt, where Bonaparte assembled a 
Congress of Sovereigns in 1807. It contains upwards 
of 24,000 inhabitants, but is not interesting except for 
its associations. Here, in 1525, Martin Luther entered 
the Augustine Convent. The Building is now an 
Orphan Asylum, but his Cell, containing his Portrait 
and Bible, is preserved as it was. 

Near Erfurt is Gotha, where the Dukes of Saxe- 
Coburg have a Palace and reside portions of their time. 
And here, I believe, Prince Albert, Husband of Queen 
Victoria, was " bred and born." 

Fulda, a town of 9,000 inhabitants, boasts of a 
Cathedral, in which the remains of St. Boniface were 
deposited. 

Eisenach has 12,000 inhabitants. The Castle of 
Wartburg, where the Landgraves of Thuringia once 
resided, and which, in 1521, afforded an Asylum for 



Letters from El'bope. 621 

Luther, when, after his bold assertion of truth in the 
Diet of Worms, bis life was endangered. During the 
year hi' passed hen; lie completed a large portion of hifl 
Translation of the Bible. Eisenach is situated on the 
of the greal Thuringerwald Forest, throngh a part 
of which we passed, and which, alter all the barren 
Mountains and naked Valleys we had seen, was truly 
refreshing. 

There is now a continuous Railway from Leipsic to 
Frankfort, the last link having been just supplied by 
the completion of the Road, a distance of twelve miles, 
which we performed by Diligence, that being (heir last 
appearance, as the Train was to go through on the fol- 
lowing day. 

The Architecture of some of the comparatively 
Ancient German Houses on the Mohawk River may 
be distinctly traced to some of the Towns through 
which we have passed. And I am persuaded that the 
Germans around Philadelphia must have originally 
emigrated from Frankfort, for, in the old Farm Houses, 
Barns, &c, as well as in the Agricultural aspects of 
both the suburbs of Philadelphia, in America, and 
Prankfort-on-the-Maine, there are so many common 
peculiarities and kindred features, as to show that at 
some period Frankfort sent many of its Citizens to 
Philadelphia. 

Fkakkpobt is one of the Free Cities whose Repre- 
sentatives constitute the German Diet. It is situated 
on the River Maine, which forms a junction with tho 
Rhine twelve miles below. It contains 70,000 inhabit- 
ants, who, if every outward sign and all the usual 
indications be not deceptive, are a prosperous and happy 



622 Thuklow Weed's 

People ; or, if not a happy they must oe an ungrateful 
People, for of all the beautiful Cities I have seen, this 
is the most lovely. There are many rich People — 
many more with a competency — still more who are 
growing rich — and yet more who live well upon their 
earnings. The Hackmen and Porters are well off. 
Waiters at the Hotels are intelligent, gentlemanly 
young men. If there be any Poor here they keep or 
are kept out of sight. And from all I can see it is no 
place for Poor People. I don't believe that they can 
stay Poor if they try. This looks extravagant, and is 
so, perhaps, but there is such an air of thrift all around 
you, and everybody looks so independent and cozy, 
that I am charmed with the place. 

There is a Boulevard all around the City, and within 
five minutes' walk from every point, rejoicing in groves, 
grottos, arbors, ponds, clover and flowers. And on 
either side of the Boulevard are splendid Mansions with 
tasteful Gardens. There are three Railway Stations 
which may readily be mistaken for Palaces. 

We drove yesterday to the "Jews' Quarter," to see 
the House in which the Rothschilds were born, and in 
which their mother died recently. One of the Brothers 
resides here in a neat but not ostentatious Mansion on 
the Boulevards. The Jews of Frankfort (some 6,000) 
are rich. They are not now pent up as formerly. 
Their " Quarter" is very old, and their buildings are 
dilapidated. They are not allowed to repair them, the 
Corporation being anxious to renovate and modernize 
that portion of the City. 

In the Cathedral of Frankfort the Emperors of Ger- 
many, after an Election by the Diet, used to be crowned. 



Letters from Europe. 623 

This, and the Town Bouse, which also possesses con- 
siderable historic interest, are the only buildings that 
attract particular attention. 

In one of the Squares, and opposite the House in 
which he was born, is a bronze Statue of Goethe, of 
whom the Germans are justly proud. 

I do not know that the prosperity of Frankfort has 
anything to do with its form of Government, but the 
fact that it has been for Centuries a Free, Representa- 
tive City is significant Where, as is the case here, the 
People are intelligent and virtuous, they ought to be 
invested with the responsibilities of Government. And 
there are such places scattered, like green spots in a des- 
ert, throughout oppressed and benighted Europe. 

Though not agreeing with Pope to the extent of his 
sentiment that that Government which is best admin- 
istered is best, yet there is a great deal of truth and 
good sense in the remark. The best possible form of 
Government can be abused, and the worst can be 
rendered tolerable. Belgium, for example, under a 
Monarchy, is among the most prosperous and happy 
nations upon the Earth. 



624 Thuelow Weed's 



XXXVI. 

BRUSSELS, Mat 20, 1852. 

"We were especially fortunate in selecting the only fair 
day in nearly a month for our descent of the Rhine, a 
River whose beauties have been so often said and sung 
that I shall content myself with having seen them. As 
a River merely, or as a River connected with its 
Scenery, it is far less interesting than many of our 
own. But with its Vineyards, its Castles and its 
Associations, its beauty and sublimity are beyond all 
comparison. Though a River several hundred miles 
in length, its principal interest lies between Heidelberg 
and Cologne, all of which is seen in nine hours, the 
Steamer down the River being aided by a current of 
four or five miles to the hour. 

We tarried a day at Cologne. Here, you know, is an 
immense Cathedral, which has been several centuries in 
the process of erection, and the completion of which 
will require other centuries, in which are preserved the 
bones of four thousand Christian Martyrs. Among 
other things we visited the House in which the Mother 
of Nero lived, and in which Rubens was born. We 
purchased, as everybody who comes here does, "real," 
" genuine," " unadulterated " Cologne Water, of the suc- 
cessors of the original inventors of the liquid. 

The great thoroughfare of Cologne is a Bridge of 
Boats across the Rhine, with an opening or draw on 



Letters pbom Europe. i>2~> 

citlier end, through which Vessels arc passed without 
much delay or inconvenience The Docks and princi- 
pal streets show that Cologne is an enterprising and 
thrifty, but most unattractive and dirty City, though 
we passed the evening pleasantly enough in a Garden, 
where the People listen to the discourse of an eloquent 
Prussian Band and drink " May Wine," a beverage com- 
pounded of various ingredients, and resembling our 
" Sherry Cobblers." 

The Mother and Sisters of Kossuth, whom we saw 
at Dresden, rested here a day or two. Our friend 
De Witt, who had an agreeable interview with them, 
says that the old Lady, who is quite infirm, has not 
yet decided upon going to America, though she is most 
anxious to do so, and is overwhelmed with gratitude for 
the welcome given by our People to the Hungarian 
Exiles. She goes from Ostend to England, where she 
is to await the arrival of the Governor. 

We came from Cologne to Brussels by Railway 
in twelve hours, stopping just long enough at Aix la 
Chapelle to glance at the town so distinguished, in dif- 
ferent Centuries, for the assemblages of Sovereigns to 
discuss and shape the destinies of Europe. It is now 
much more profitably employed in working up the iron 
with which its mountains abound. And all through 
Belgium we were delighted with evidences of enterprise 
and industry, and manifestations of prosperitv and hap- 
piness which belong nut. in any such degree, to the 
Other portions of Europe. In all time, and every vicis- 
situde, and in defiance of every hindrance, the People 
of ancient Flanders, no matter what wars raged or what 

despot reigned, trere- distinguished for their indomitable 



626 Thurlow Weed's 

industry. For ages Belgium was a sort of middle (but 
never neutral) ground, upon which the Armies of con- 
tending nations were quartered. Though ever exhaust- 
ing, the almost perpetual wars of Europe never 
impoverished these People. And now, having some 
twenty years ago cut the tie which bound them to Hol- 
land, after which England gave them a King in the 
person of Leopold, and guaranteed their National Inde- 
pendence, Belgium has, by rapid approaches, attained to 
a condition of prosperity and wealth which challenges 
the world's admiration. Not only is the soil, taxed by 
science, experience and industry, rendered eminently 
productive by Agriculturists, but the disemboweled 
earth is yielding vast mineral treasure, for there seems 
to be no limit to the deposits of Coals and Iron. 
Every City and Town has its Railway. The whole 
Kingdom is bound together by iron ribs. Railways are 
more numerous here than ordinary Roads in our State. 
From all the principal stations there are half a dozen or 
more diverging lines. If appearances do not deceive 
me, Agriculture and Manufactures are making Belgium 
one of the richest nations in the world. Nor are these 
their only advantages. They enjoy the blessings of a 
well administered Government. They have a good 
King, and had a good Queen, both of whom the people 
loved, and the latter of whom they lament. In the 
upheaving of popular sentiment throughout Europe in 
1849, there were discontents in Belgium, the leaders 
among whom, it is said, were summoned to the Palace, 
and told by the King in the presence of the Queen, that 
if the people desired a change he would save them from 
the cost and consequences of a civil war by voluntary 



Letters from Europe. 627 

abdication. This put out the Revolutionary fires. 
The Bang acted in accordance with the spirit of the 
age; and Belgium went peacefully onward without turn- 
ing her ploughshares into Swords or converting her iron 
into engines of destruction. 

We drove for a few hours about the City and Envi- 
rons of Brussels, all of which are beautiful. The King's 
Palace is surrounded and hid bv a noble Forest. We 
stopped at the unostentatious church wliere the remains 
of the late Queen of liu.oitwi repose, in close proxim- 
ity to the remains of another Queen (of Melodi- 
the sweetly gifted Mauiskax. 

The Ladies visited the principal Lace Manufactory, 
wlcre the Brussels article is made and sold for sums 
of money that would frighten prudent people. What 
do you think, for example, of trimming a Dress with 
Lace at 8250 and S.'iOl.) a yard ? lint just now the rage 
is for Old Lace. In Florence. Rome, Naples, Venice, 
&c, traffic in Old Lace is very active. Ladies look for 
it with more solicitude than for any other article of 
dress. Neither jewelry or precious stones are so much 
prized as Lace known to have been worn by a Cardinal 
i >r .Monk a century or two ago. No Lady thinks of leav- 
ing Italy without seeming some of their precious spoils. 
Of course, the supply of Old Lace keeps pace with the 
rapidly increasing demand! Bow much of it is genuine 
I will not undertake to say. Every Lady is quite sure 
that she can detect the Antique from the Modern. 

We ran down to Antwerp, tor there, even after Ctaly 
has been explored, there is one Church (St. Jacques) 
and a Gallery Of Paintings, well worth seeing. As 

elsewhere, tic- best Pictures of the old .Masters are to 



628 Thuelow Weed's 

be found where they had a hearth and a home, and 
were surrounded by household influences. Rubens, 
though born upon the Rhine, lived and died at Antwerp, 
where, in a Chapel of the Church of St. Jacques, are 
splendid Marble tributes to his memory. 

In the Museum or Town Hall of Antwerp, is a very 
valuable collection of Paintings by all the old Flemish 
Masters. We did not see Rubens' "Descent from the 
Cross," which is his greatest and best, it having been taken 
down for repairs. But his " Crucifixion," in all its pain- 
ful and harrowing effect, was there. This picture makes 
the blood chill and the flesh shiver. In the lamb-like 
meekness of the dying Savior, and in the writhing agonies 
of the two Thieves, this Painting is frightfully real. 

No American should go to Antwerp without making 
the acquaintance of Mr. Vesey, our Consul there, who, 
beside being a Model Consul, is in every sense a Gentle- 
man. In all that is to be seen, and all that you want to 
purchase, Mr. Vesey's attentions and assistance are so 
cheerfully given that you do not hesitate to accept them. 
While rendering you essential service, in the purchase 
of Pictures, Laces, &c, he won't let you feel any sense 
of obligation. Indeed, unless you watch him closely, he 
will be giving you his own Pictures, or if you need them, 
his own Clothes, and he would "divide his last crust" 
with anybody. But he finds time to discharge his offi- 
cial duties with intelligence and fidelity. As, however, 
he is a New Yorker, and is quite sure to give away all 
the proceeds of his office, I take leave to commend him 
(in case any Administration should be guilty of the 
injustice of recalling him) to the especial regard of Gov- 
ernor Draper and his Alms House Colleagues. 



Letters from Europe. 629 



XXXVII. 

LONDON, June 15, 185-'. 

We spent a fortnight in Paris visiting the Palace of St. 
Cloud, Versailles, and various other objects of interest 
that we did not see in the winter. Paris is gay now, 
more so, it is said, than it has been for several years. 
And France is tranquil and prosperous. Yes, strange 
as it may seem, and is, France accepts repose upon any 
terms. She allows Louis Napoleon to play the Usurper 
and Despot. He reorganizes Society, and changes the 
whole frame-work of Government with impunity. He 
limits Trial by Jury, prohibits Debate and enslaves the 
Press, and all with the acquiescence, if not the appro- 
bation, of the People of France! His word is Law — 
his will Supreme. Indeed, there is no such full and 
entire manifestation of the One Man Power through all 
Europe as exists in France. 

But hard as the terms are, and repugnant as are the 
principles upon which France is governed, she is profit- 
ing by them. Important and various improvements 
are progressing. Confidence exists. Business is active. 
Tranquillity pervades the Nation. There is security 
for property, and if you don't "speak evil of dignities," 
your person is secure. The Manufacturer, the Mer- 
chant and the Mechanic are prospering, The Laborer 
has employment. The Canaille, or such of that class 
as were most dangerous and desperate, have been 



630 Thuelow Weed's 

transported ; and finally, France is really tranquil and 
prosperous. 

Louis Napoleon is a man of most decided ability. 
He had not, as many supposed, lived a life of indo- 
lence. He has a well disciplined mind, and is well read 
in the principles of Government. He works hard and 
keeps those about him hard at work. In this, as in 
many other respects, he is like the Napoleon. 

We did not come from Paris to London in a day, 
though that is the habit of most Travelers. We allowed 
two Trains to pass that we might have a few hours at 
Calais and at Dover, Towns which had been finished 
for two or three Centuries, and until Railroads came to 
stir them up. Now the spirit of the age has reached 
even Dover and Calais, and forever standing " stock 
still," looking at each other across the Channel in the 
same old, dingy, antiquated garb, they present new 
Docks, new Steamers, new Streets, new blocks of 
Buildings, and all the other new features that belong 
to busy, thriving Towns, Of Dover, all this is espe- 
cially true, so much so, indeed, that if those who left it 
even ten years ago were to return, they would be as 
much astounded as was Rip Van Winkle when aroused 
from his long sleep. 

The weather, since we came to London, has been 
decidedly moist (this is the English word for it), by which 
I mean that it has rained almost incessantly for ten con- 
secutive days. Our " sight-seeing," therefore, has been 
the " pursuit of knowledge under difficulties." This is, 
however, the gay season, and the rain, though it descends 
in torrents, is no hindrance to the festivities of the 
Metropolis. The Queen, the Court Ladies, along with 



Letters from Eitrofe. 631 

Ladies of every degree, go to the "Ascot Races" amid 
drenching rains. Ladies drive and ride through Hyde 
and Green Parka in showers that would almost send 
water-fowl to cover. The India Rubber discovery was 
a great thing for London. .Macintoshes are in request 
from the Policemen to the Quern. Parliament is to 
"gel ap" (Adjourn) in all this month, so that every- 
thing in the way of Dinners, Balls, Concerts, &c, are 
very active. Gentlemen scarcely think of doing less 
than one dinner and two drawing-rooms daily. 

Have you a realizing sense of what London, in 
population and magnitude, really is 1 Do you know 
that in population it is larger than the census of 1840 
showed the entire State of New York ! The inhabit- 
ants of the Cities of New York, Philadelphia, Boston, 
Baltimore, Albany, Troy, Utica, Syracuse, Rochester 
and Buffalo combined, would not make, by three or four 
hundred thousand, another London ! It has already 
swallowed up all the surrounding villages, and is 
extending its " Lamp Districts " in every direction, as 
rapidly as Milwaukee or Chicago spread themselves. I 
have been driven five, six, seven and eight miles in dif- 
ferent quarters without getting through the wilderness of 
dwellings. The Railways run for miles, not through, 
but over the City. And as for the wealth of London, 
why that is beyond the power, if not of figures, at 
least of computation. In the purchase of most of the 
necessaries, and nearly all the luxuries of life, Guineas go 
very little farther than dollars go with us. Take a single 
example. A friend invited us to occupy his Box at the 
Opera. Before each of the Ladies a beautiful Bouquet 
was placed. These Bouquets cost six shillings sterling, 



632 Thuelow Weed's 

or $1.50 each. Grapes cost from a Guinea to a 
Guinea and a half a pound. The new Parliament 
House is one of the great Architectural features of 
London. Though a magnificent, it is not an effective 
building, or, in other words, it does not show for what 
it cost. 

The debates of Parliament attract but comparatively 
few hearers. Perhaps this is owing to the limited 
capacity of the Galleries and the trouble of obtaining 
admission. In the House of Lords there are no seats 
for strangers, and permission to stand up there must be 
obtained from the Black Rod. In the House of Com- 
mons applications for admission must be made to the 
Speaker a day in advance. The Speaker hands to 
the Keepers of the different Galleries, every morning, 
the names of such persons as are to be admitted during 
the day. 

There is a Ladies' Gallery, in which not more than a 
dozen can find room to sit or stand, and these are invis- 
ible to members, though they can look through "a 
glass darkly." 

The House, on the two occasions we visited it, was 
attended by some sixty or seventy members. Sir Fran- 
cis Baring and the venerable Joseph Hume were the 
only prominent members whom we heard speak, both 
with great clearness and effect. 

In the House of Lords we saw the Court of Last 
Resort in session. It consisted of the Lord Chancel- 
lor, one Peer (Lord Brougham), two Clerks and an 
Usher, all in black gowns (except Lord Brougham) 
and huge white wigs. There were four Barristers and 
three persons whom I supposed to be suitors, present. 



Letters from Europe. 633 

And here, in this calm, quiet way, questions involv- 
ing millions of pounds, and affecting the rights and 
interests of millions of People, were being heard and 
finally decided. 

Money is very abundant here. England is redundant 
with surplus capital. Many who have money, don't 
know what to do with it. Mo9t of the Railway 
shares pay fair dividends, but the other securities only 
give two and three per cent. Bankers who receive 
money on Deposit pay one-half per cent, charging 
one-half per cent commission for receiving and dis- 
bursing it. 

Mr. AVixslow, having made an advantageous pur- 
chase of Iron for our Northern railroad, and passed 
three months pleasantly on this side the Atlantic 
(where his agreeable Lady and himself received 
many attentions), returned in the steamer Atlantic. 

Speaking of Iron, by the way, let us extract an 
expensive moral from the existing state of things. 
The Tariff of 1846, aided by "cheap Iron" from Eng- 
land, having broken down our own Manufacturers, we 
are now, with all sorts of enterprises in hand, wholly 
dependent upon the English Manufacturers. They 
understand and are taking advantage of this folly. 
The price of Rails has risen, and will continue to 
advance. Iron is twenty-five and thirty per cent 
higher now than it was a year ago. Rails could have 
been rolled, if our Tariff had not been broken down, 
at home twenty-live per cent cheaper than their cost 
here. And then, besides using up our own raw mate- 
rials, giving employment for American capital and 

80 



634 Thurlow Weed's 

Labor, and increasing 1 the demand for American Pro- 
duce, the Steamers would not be taking off specie at 
the rate of half a million a week. 

There is either unpardonable stupidity or wanton 
wickedness in our Free Trade Policy. Cotton growers 
and Shippers naturally enough advocate Free Trade, 
though it is more than probable that their true and 
permanent interests would be promoted by a Protective 
Tariff. But that the masses of our People, and above 
all the Democracy of America, should favor Free 
Trade, is "passing strange." 

England having, by a rigid and unyielding adherence 
to a High Protective Policy for Centuries, developed all 
her resources, covered her entire Kingdom with Engines, 
Forges, Looms and Spindles, and attained perfection in 
all the departments of Manufactures, with cheap Labor 
and untold millions of surplus Capital, is in a condition 
to ask from the Nations whose Manufacturing interests 
she has broken down, Feee Trade. Yes, after England 
has grown great and powerful, overspreading the World 
with her Manufactures, and spanning the Oceans and 
Seas with her Commerce ; when, by her perfected 
machinery, long experience, multiplied facilities and 
unlimited capital, England placed herself beyond the 
reach of competition, she assumes the championship, 
and becomes an example of Free Trade ! This is 
eminently wise for England. Centimes of Restrictions 
have prepared her for Freedom in Trade. Free Trade 
is as clearly the policy of England now, as Protection 
is the true Policy of America. The reasons, in both 
cases, are found in the relative conditions of the two 
Countries. 



Letters from Europe. 635 

Mr. George Peabody, the American " Merchant 
Prince," who makes London so pleasant to his Country- 
men, lias, by placing his Boxes at the two Operae at 
our disposal, enabled us to hear Cri'vei.u, La I'm. acme 
and Gbisi, the two former in the Opera of Rosini, 
and the latter in NORMA. We had seen CbUVELLI in 
Paris. She sings very sweetly. La 1>i.u be, a second 
Daniel Lambert in person, is inimitable; and Gr&ISI, 
though she was much "younger once," is a woman of 
surpassing compass and power of voice and action. I 
had no conception before hearing her, of those mighty 
efforts of genius — those bursts of impassioned song 
which electrify an audience, that I had so often read o£ 
In Grisi's singing and acting you see and hear and feel 
it all. In sweet, gentle, gushing melody, Gbisi is as 
notliing compared with Jenny Lind ; but in passages 
of deep, burning, indignant passion, she wakes up the 
strongest emotions of the soul, and carries everything 
by storm. 

We went, also, to the Princess Theatre, on the occa- 
sion of Mr. and Mrs. Chari.es Kean's Benefit. The 
House was filled with Fashionables. The Stalls we 
occupied (Mr. Hackett kindly procured us eligible 
ones) were surrounded by Lords, Ladies, Earls and 
Countesses. The Queen and Prince Aluert, with 
two Ladies and two Lords in waiting, came in during 
the second Act, and sat out both Plays. 

Here I enjoyed again the real luxury of listening to 
a " proud representative " of the legitimate Drama; not, 
as many say, in the person of Chables ElEAN, but in 
that of his gifted Wife, so well known to us as Ellen 
Tree. All my former impressions of this accomplished 



636 Thublow "Weed's 

Woman's talent were confirmed. She is truly great; 
and if things in this respect had not changed — if it 
were possible to do so — she would restore the Drama 
to its former dignity and glory. But this is impos- 
sible. The Drama has had its day. Its glories have 
faded out. 

In Chables Kean you catch glimpses, and glimpses 
only, of his illustrious Father. With the Elder Kean 
the representative of " Shakspeaee's heroes" died. Nor 
will there, while the World is busy with Railroads, 
Electric Telegraphs, California and Australian Cold 
Mines, Cheap Literature, &c, &c, be any lineal heir 
succeeding. 

Mr. Hackett, who has been here some time engaging 
Artistes for Niblo's Garden, and has, I believe, engaged 
Mademoiselle Sontag, went home in the Atlantic. 



Letters from Europe. 637 



XXXVIII. 

LONDON. Jise 18, 1852. 

Mr. George Peabody, who has earned and is worthy of 
the reputation he enjoys as one of the " Merchant 
Princes" of London, gave his friends a sumptuous din- 
ner yesterday at the Brunswick Hotel, Blackball. The 
Brunswick fronts the River Thames opposite Green wirh 
Hospital, so that we had a full view of the vessels and 
steamers that swarm through the Thames while seated al 
the table. 

Covers were laid for 110 guests, every one of whom 
appeared ! The company assembled at 5 o'clock. An 
hour was agreeably passed in the Drawing-Room. 
Three-fourths of those present were Americans. The 
table was graced by the presence of nearly fifty ladies. 

At 6 o'clock Mr. Peabody, followed by his guests, led 
the Lady of the American Minister to the table, the 
floral decorations of which were verv beautiful. A 
fine band of music was stationed in the Hotel. 

After Grace and the Soup, came various courses of 
all the fine fish with which the Rivers and < lhannels of 
England abound, served in every form known to the 
culinary art, succeeded by a distinct course of White 
Bait, a fish much esteemed here, and very delicate. 
Then came the various "joints'" ;md the fine game of 
which England l>o:i>t<, followed, in course, by •'Sweets," 
Dessert, Ices, Fruit, &c. 



638 Thuelow Weed's 

The cloth being finally removed, Mr. Peabody gave, 
prefaced by brief and appropriate remarks, first, " The 
Queen," and then the " President of the United States," 
which were drank with enthusiasm. " God save the 
Queen " and " Hail Columbia " were sung by a Glee 
Club, with fine effect, after each of these sentiments. 

The Hon. William Brown, member of Parliament 
from Liverpool, after paying a high compliment to Mr. 
Peabodt's standing as a Merchant, and alluding to that 
gentleman's efforts to strengthen and brighten the bonds 
of friendship between Englishmen and Americans, 
offered a sentiment complimentary to the Hon. Abbot 
Laweence, the American Minister at this Court. This 
brought up Mr. L., who spoke of his happiness in meet- 
ing, at the table of their common Host, so many of his 
Countrymen. Mr. Laweence then alluded to the 
importance of cultivating friendly and intimate relations 
between two of the most enlightened Nations of the 
Earth, and awarded to Mr. Peabody the credit of doing 
more to promote that object than any other living man. 

Mr. Lawrence alluded also to the fact that this was 
the Anniversary of the battle of Bunker Hill, and that 
at this very hour that glorious event was being cele- 
brated, as he hoped it ever would be, in Boston and 
at Charlestown. He rejoiced that the time had come 
when even Englishmen ceased to remember the Amer- 
ican Revolution with bitterness, and were free to admit 
that our Fathers were right in striking for National 
Independence. Mr. L. also referred to the fact that to- 
morrow (the 18th of June) was the Anniversary of the 
Battle of Waterloo, another great event in the Annals 
of the World. The battle of Bunker Hill, on the 



Letters from Eusope. 639 

17th of June, gave Freedom to the Continent of Amer- 
ica. The battle of Waterloo, on the 18th of June, had 
given, for thirty-seven years, Freedom ami repose to 
the European Continent 

The Hon. Mr. Hankey, Governor of the Bank of 
England, followed in the same liberal, em-dial spirit. 
invoking friendship and harmony between the two 
Countries, and referring to the high pecuniary position, 
the unsullied mercantile reputation, and the munificent 
hospitalities of Mr. Peabody, in the warmest and most 
flattering terms — terms of commendation which were 
evidently from the heart, and which, from a source so 
high, reward a life of toil .and integrity. 

George Wood, Esq., of New York, who was called 
out by a complimentary sentiment from Mr. Lawrence, 
made an effective and appropriate acknowledgment. 

And now as the "small hours" were approaching, 
the party having passed five hours delightfully at the 
table, returned to the Drawing-Boom for Music and 
Dancing. 

Among the Guests of Mr. Peabody, on this occasion, 
were the Hon. Abbot Lawrence, Mrs. and Miss LAW- 
RENCE, T. Bigelow Lawrence and Abbot Lawreni e, 
Jr.: (Jul. AspnrWALL, Lady and Daughter: Mr. and 
Mrs. OuSLEY; Mr. Leslie (the Artist), Lady and 
Daughter; Major ScHENLEY, Lady and Daughter; Mr. 
Hankey (Governor of the Bank of England), and 
Lady: Miss Rush and Miss ALEXANDER, of Philadel- 
phia; Hon. Wm. Brown (member of Parliament) and 
Lady, of Liverpool: Judge Thomas, of Worcester, 
Mass.; Mr. WaDTWRIGHT, of New York: Mr. Lav, 
Lady and two Misses Fay, of Salem. Mass.; Lev. .Mr. 



640 Thurlow Weed's 

Johns, of Baltimore ; Rev. Mr. Weston, of New York ; 
Mr. McKim and Lady, of Baltimore; Ellicott Cres- 
son, Philadelphia ; Mr. Moeeis and two Misses Moreis, 
of Georgia; Mr. Stell and Lady, of Manchester, with 
two Misses Lemon, of Baltimore; Mrs. Hunter and 
Daughter, with Miss Weed, of Albany; Mr. B. A. 
Sewell, of Boston ; Mr. C. A. Hamilton and R. Bell, 
Mr. Lispenard Stewart and Lady, Mr. C. Griswold, 
and Miss Rhinelander, of New York; Mr. Churchman 
and Lady, of Philadelphia; Mr. Alexander Duncan, of 
Canandaigua; George Wood, Esq., and Daughter, 
of New York; Col. Childs (Engineer), of Albany; 
Mr. Beals and Lady, of New York; Mr. Hazeltine 
and Lady, of New York ; Mr. Ward and two Misses 
Ward, of Baltimore; Mr. Lampson, of London; Mr. 
Samson, of the London Times, and Mr. Inskipp, of the 
Morning Post; Mr. W. W. Gilbert and Mr. Seeley, 
of New York; Mr. H. Stevens, of Vermont; Mr. J. 
C. Brown, of Providence; Mr. Hilton and Mr. C. S. 
Horner, of New York; Mr. and Mrs Bell, of New 
York; Mr. Charles Gould, of New York; Col. Fre- 
mont, of California, and others whose names I did not get. 
Mr. Peabody is untiring in his attentions to Ameri- 
cans; and his hospitalities are so kindly and delicately 
tendered, that you seem to be conferring rather than 
receiving favors. He is a native of Danvers, Massa- 
chusetts, from which place, when a young man, he 
went to Baltimore, and from thence, sixteen years ago, 
to London, where he has amassed a large fortune and 
established an enviable reputation. He belongs to a 
class of capitalists (more select than numerous) who 
make money that they may enjoy the luxury of 



Letters from Europe. G41 

doing 1 good with it. He has tendered to Lady Frank- 
lin 810,000 in aid of i'utun- searches for Sir John 
Franklin, and has just given S20.000 to promote tlio 
cause of education and morality in his native town of 
Danvers. 



81 



642 Thuelow Weed's 



XXXIX. 

LONDON, June 18, 1852. 

We have been waiting here a fortnight for what has not 
come, and what seems as remote as when we arrived — 
fair weather. But London, rain or shine, is the great 
feature of the World. In many respects the World 
may be said to revolve around London. It attracts the 
Commerce and the Capital of the World. This may be 
true, in a larger sense, of the Island of Great Britain, 
for the immediate points of attraction are Birmingham, 
and Manchester, and Liverpool, and Leeds, and Wolver- 
hamton, and Sheffield ; but these are merely Keservoirs 
by which London is fed. 

I was struck with the greatly improved appearance 
in regard to destitution and suffering in London since I 
was here nine years ago. A friend to whom I made 
the remark, replied, that though this was true, he feared 
that the aggregate of poverty in England had not 
diminished as much as this fact seemed to prove. 
" Cheap Bread " and a general revival of business has, 
he said, enabled most who are industrious and provident, 
in London, to live ; but while burthens had been eased 
they had not been removed. Much that the laboring 
classes and poor of London has gained, by " Cheap 
food," the same classes in the Agricultural Districts, had 
lost. 

There is much doing, however, to relieve the Poor 



Letters From Europe. 643 

and to reclaim the outcast. There are Engines, other 
than such as propel Steamen and Railway Trains, in 
operation. Associations, practical in their mesne 
benevolent in their objects, are exerting salutary influ- 
ences. Schools are open where Thieves learn better 
modes of obtaining a living, in which those who became 
Thieves from necessity, give evidence of their reforma- 
tion. They are furnished with the means to reach 
some distant place where they can and do commence 
the World anew. 

" Ragged Schools " are rescuing their hundreds and 
will rescue their thousands from lives of vice and crime. 
Graduates from these philanthropic Institutions are now 
found in many humble but useful occupations, where 
they earn an honest living. One class of boys from 
the " Ragged Schools," are seen at the corners of streets 
with brushes, blacking, &c. They obtain abundant 
employment, for few persons can walk much about 
London without requiring their services. They have 
a uniform dress (dark pants, red flannel shirts, and a cap, 
on which "Ragged School, No. — " is displayed), and 
are supplied with liquid blacking by an employee of 
the Society, who goes round to their stations. They 
are industrious, respectful, and evidently gratified with 
the chanjre in their destinv. 

In these Schools there is no law but that of kindness. 
The Doors are open to the ragged, filthy, vicious and 
desperate, who come and go when they please. 
Instruction is offered freely. They are told that by 
living better thev can be happier. Those who teach 
these Schools are more than good Samaritans, for vou 
can conceive of nothing more loathsome than the scenes 



644 Thurlow Weed's 

they present. These pupils are literally raked, in their 
filth and pestiferousness, out of the gutters and pools. 
But when good can be done, the really benevolent 
allow no obstacle to stand between them and their 
objects. 

And the cause of humanity has been promoted in 
another way. Dickens has reformed the "Work and 
, Poor House System of England. Yes, by the force 
of a beautifully wrought story (Oliver Twist), Charles 
Dickens has done what the Clergy, the Magistrates, 
and even Parliament, were unable to accomplish. The 
whole, or nearly the whole catalogue of Poor House 
inhumanities have been reformed. The "Mr. Bumbles" 
and the "Mistress Cornies" have either changed their 
natures or disappeared. 

Lord Wellington, who is now 84 years old, gave 
his annual Waterloo Dinner to-day to the Veterans 
who were with him on that great day. A large con- 
course of People assembled in front of Apsley House 
to cheer the Heroes as they arrived. Among the most 
distinguished were the Marquis of Anglesea (who 
lost a leg there), but looks hale and rode erect; the 
Earl of Stratford, Colonel of the Cold Stream Regi- 
ment; Sir Peregrine Maitland, Colonel of Infantry; 
Lt.-Gen. MacDonald; Lt.-Gren. Lord Seaton, &c, &c, 
in all over eighty. Prince Albert was also there. 

Coventry, June 19. 

We left London last Evening at 9 o'clock in a fast 
Train, and reached this place (94 miles) at 12. Rail- 
roads have brought the most distant places here into 
very close proximity. By means of Railways we have 



Letters from Europe. 645 

done to-day what would have taken more than a week 
in other times, viz., visited Kenilwobth and WARWICK 
Castles and Stkateord-on-Avon. These places are 
situated in the midst of a quiet, rural and highly 
cultivated Agricultural District. The Railway takes 
you to the small village of Kenilworth, from which it 
is but a mile to the Ruined Castle — a noble Ruin now, 
and once a proudly noble Castle. The approach to 
Kenilworth is through an Avenue lined with English 
Cottages, called " Tressilian," " Robsart," " Raleigh," and 
other names associated with the recollections of this 
Castle. The lofty Towers and fragments of Wall 
only remain. These are inhabited by rooks, ravens, 
wrens and swallows and bats. We wandered for an 
hour around and within these ruins, upon a soft, velvety 
green, recalling those Revels which BUCKINGHAM con- 
trived for the entertainment of Elizabeth — Revels to 
which Sir Walter Scott, without impairing the force 
of History, has imparted all the charms of Romance. 
We looked for the magnificent gateway, where the 
Giant Warden kept watch, with Flibertigibbet upon 
his brawny shoulders; the Apartment in which Amy 
Robsart was concealed; the Chamber in which Alas- 
quez consulted the Stars ; the spot where the proud 
Leicester knelt before his enraged Queen. 

Returning to the Railway station, a train took us, in 
twenty minutes, to the Warwick station, from which 
it is but a mile and a half to Warwick Castle, with 
which the History and Destiny of England, in former 
times, were so intimately associated. The old Town 
of Warwick lias a peaceful and calm aspect. The Old 
Castle is one of the noblest in the World. Keml- 



646 Tiiurlow Weed's 

worth is a Ruin whose deserted walls and crumbling 
towers only tell of its past glories. Warwick is in a 
state of high and perfect preservation, and speaks of 
the wealth and munificence of the present as plainly as 
of the greatness and glory of the past. 

We were an hour too early for admission to the cas- 
tle. To beguile this time, after looking at the enormous 
" Porridge Pot " and Armor of Guy of Warwick, we 
walked about the beautiful garden and wood grounds 
of the Castle. Guy of Warwick, as you know, stood 
eight feet in his shoes, for " there were Giants in those 
days." His armor weighs 160 pounds. His " Porridge 
Pot " is the Punch Bowl of the more modern Earls of 
Warwick. It was last used on the occasion of the 
marriage of the present Earl, who is 74 years old. 
The ingredients of which the Punch was compounded 
were 18 gallons of Rum, 12 gallons of Brandy, 100 lbs. 
of Sugar, and 100 gallons of Water. 

The River Avon glides smoothly through the grounds 
and along the walls of the Castle. In the garden green 
house stands the memorable vase found in Adrian's 
Villa, ten miles from Rome and presented by Pius VII 
to George IV, and by that Monarch to the Earl of 
Warwick. 

We were one hour in being shown the Castle, all the 
magnificent Apartments of which are habitable. It 
belongs, in its furniture and its ornaments, to the present 
and the past. The strength and warlike precautions of 
barbarian ages are everywhere manifest, but they are 
softened and polished by the plastic hand of peace. 
Each room is hung with Family Portraits and Paintings 



Letters from Europe. G47 

of the Old Masters, among which are works of Vah 
Dyke, Rubens, TV.mi.i;-, Rembrandt, and one by 

Ml'RILLO. 

The present Earl of Warwick, now infirm, is at the 
Castle. His Son, Lord Brook, is with his Family in 
London. 

From Warwick we took a " Fly" to .Stratford, a dis- 
tance of nine and a half miles, through a charming 
Country. Stratford, instead of being an old, dingy, 
cobweb, tumble-down Town, as I had expected to find 
it, is a neat, bright, cheerful Village, with a River steal- 
ing placidly through Landscapes which might inspire a 
IIw.leck or a Longfellow, though no Hard of Avon 
can be created, for the mould in which Shakspeare was 
cast is broken. The House in which the immortal 
Dramatist was born is a small two-story building, with 
nothing to distinguish it from plain dwellings of that 
age. This house has been more visited than the birth- 
place of any other mere man. About the Apartments, 
in every spot where it was possible to cut or write a 
name or an initial, Visitors have left their Autographs. 
Sir Walteb Scott cut his name into a pane of glass. 
On the wall, you find the names of Byron, Schiller, 
Southey, Wordsworth, &c, along with those of Lords, 
Earls, Princes, to say nothing of an innumerable host 
of Generals, Admirals, Colonels, Clergymen, Gentle- 
men, &c. On these walls I saw the Autograph of 
many American acquaintances. 

We returned to Coventry in time to look round at a 
Fan: now holding here. Though it has called together 
a numerous class of the Peasantry and Operatives, they 
are of little advantage fco anybody but those who are 



/ 



648 Thuelow Weed's 

licensed to sell Ale, Beer, Porter and Stout, and the 
Showmen and Mountebanks, whose bass drums, bells, 
gongs, &c, keep up a most hideous noise. 

To give you an idea of the length of the days here, 
just now, it is only necessary to say that I am writing 
at half-past nine o'clock by daylight. 









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